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Theoretical Perspectives on Sexuality

Chapter 2

Evolutionary Perspectives

• Sociobiology - application of evolutionary biology to understanding the social behavior of animals, including humans.

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Evolutionary Perspectives

• Evolution occurs via natural selection, a process by which animals that are best adapted to their environment are more likely to: • Survive• Reproduce• Pass genes to the next

generation

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Evolutionary Perspectives

• Parental investment - behavior and resources invested by parents to achieve the survival and reproductive success of their genetic offspring.

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Evolutionary Perspectives

• Sexual selection• Competition between members of one gender (usually

male).• Preferential choice by members of one gender (usually

female).

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Evolutionary Psychology

• Focuses on the psychological mechanisms that have been shaped by natural selection.• Assumes that every

characteristic that we observe must have some adaptive significance.

• Some human traits, however, may simply be design flaws.

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Psychological Theories: Psychoanalytic Theory

• Freud’s psychoanalytic theory focuses on human sexuality.

•He saw libido (sex drive or sex energy) as one of the two major forces in human life. The other is thanatos (the death instinct).

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Freud: Consciousness

• Conscious level• Normal

awareness• Preconscious

level• Easily brought to

consciousness• Unconscious

level• Hidden thoughts

and desires

Freud’s Parts of the Personality

• Id - the basic part of personality which is present at birth - operates on the pleasure principle.• Ego operates on the reality principle

and tries to keep the id in line.• Superego is the conscience and

operates on idealism.

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Freud: Structural Model

• The id• Unconscious level• Present at birth• Home to sexual and aggressive drive• Governed by the pleasure principle• Think Homer Simpson

Freud: Structural Model

• The superego• Preconscious and unconscious levels• Develops in childhood• Home to morality and conscience• Governed by the ego ideal• Think Ned Flanders

Freud: Structural Model

• The ego• Conscious, preconscious, and unconscious levels• Develops in childhood (before superego)• Acts as a referee between id and superego• Governed by the reality principle

Freud: Personality Development

• We must pass through psychosexual stages successfully• Each stage focuses on how we receive pleasure

• Failure to pass through a stage leads to fixation• In times of stress, we regress to that stage

Freud: Psychosexual Stages

• Oral stage (birth to 1 year)• Anal stage (1 to 3 years)• Phallic stage (3 to 6 years)• Oedipus and Electra complexes

• Latency period (6 to puberty)• Genital stage (puberty onward)

Freud’s Early Stages of Psychosexual Development

•Oral stage (birth to one year) - child’s chief pleasure is derived from sucking and otherwise stimulating the lips and mouth. •Anal stage (second year) - child’s interest is focused on elimination.

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Freud’s Phallic Stage (Ages 3 to 5 or 6)

•Boy’s interest is focused on his phallus (penis). •Oedipus complex develops but is resolved by castration anxiety.

•Girls feel cheated and suffer from penis envy.• Electra complex develops but resolution is not as complete as for boys.

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Freud’s Later Stages of Psychosexual Development

• Latency, in which sexual impulses are repressed or are in a quiescent state, lasts until adolescence.• Sexual urges reawaken with puberty, when the child moves into the genital stage.

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Fixations at Freudian Stages

• According to Freud, people do not always mature from one stage to the next as they should.•Most adults have at least traces of earlier stages remaining in their personalities.

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Freud on Women

• Freud assumed the female is biologically inferior because she lacks a penis.• Feminists object to the notion that

women are anatomically inferior, and argue that psychoanalytic theory may cause harm to women.

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Evaluation of Psychoanalytic Theory

• May provide a view of disturbances in the human personality rather than the human personality.• The recognition that humans pass through

stages in their psychological development was a great contribution.

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Psychological Theories: Learning Theory

• Much of human sexual behavior is biologically controlled, but much of it is also learned.

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Classical and Operant Conditioning

•Classical conditioning takes place when a conditioned stimulus is paired with an original unconditioned stimulus.•Operant conditioning means a person is more likely to repeat a behavior if it is rewarded (reinforcement).

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Psychological Theories: Learning Theories

•Behavior modification involves a set of techniques used to change behavior.•Social learning is based on operant conditioning, imitation and identification.

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Psychological Theories

•Social exchange theory uses the concept of reinforcement to explain stability and change in relationships between people.• Successful experiences with an activity over time create a sense of competence or self-efficacy.

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Psychological Theories: Cognitive Theory

• Cognitive psychologists believe it is very important to study the way people perceive and think.

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Psychological Theories: Gender Schema Theory

• Gender schemas - set of attributes that we associate with males and females.

• Schemas predispose us to process information on the basis of gender.

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Gender Stereotype Consistent

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Gender Stereotype Inconsistent

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Sociological Perspectives: The Influence of Society

• Societal influence occurs on several levels including:

• The macro level - society as a whole.• The subcultural level at which one’s social class or ethnic group may have an impact on one’s sexuality.

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Sociological Perspectives: Social Institutions

• At the macro level our sexuality is influenced by powerful social institutions, including:

• Religion• Economy• Family•Medicine• Law

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Sociological Perspectives: Symbolic Interaction Theory

• Human nature and the social order are products of symbolic communication among people.

•Develop a definition of the situation.

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Sociological Perspectives: Symbolic Interaction Theory

• Role-taking - when an individual imagines how he or she looks from the other person’s viewpoint.•Other-directed individuals - primarily concerned with meeting other’s standards.

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Sociological Perspectives: Sexual Scripts

• Suggest that sexual behavior is as scripted as a play in a theater.• Tell us an etiquette of sexual behavior.• Tell us the meaning we should attach to a

particular sexual event.

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Sociological Perspectives: The Social Importance

• Ira Reiss defines sexuality as “erotic and genital responses produced by the cultural scripts of a society.”

• Kinship system• Power structure• Ideologies of a culture

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