Understanding Human Sexuality: Insights from Research, Biases, and Cultural Values

1. 2 Studying Human Sexuality

2. Sex, Advice Columnists, and Pop Psychology • The sex information/advice genre seeks to • Inform: transmit information that is factual and accurate • Entertain: attract audiences through hosts’ personalities, as well as high-interest or bizarre material • Focuses on “how-to” or morality • Uses the trappings of social science and psychiatry, without their substance.

3. Use and Abuse of Statistics • Media frequently quotes or summarizes social science research, but in an oversimplified or distorted manner: • Sensationalizes findings • Overgeneralizes results of research • Promotes statistics that agree with widely-held preconceptions

4. Thinking Critically about Sex • Basic to scientific studies is a commitment to objectivity • The observation of things as they exist in reality as opposed to researchers’ feelings or beliefs about them • Not easy to achieve objectivity in the study of sexuality • Sexuality can bring out powerful emotions and moral ambivalence • Sex is experienced subjectively

5. Value Judgments vs. Objectivity • Objectivity about sex is challenging for us • Our culture has traditionally viewed sexuality in moral terms • We tend to make value judgmentsabout sex, i.e. evaluations based on moral or ethical standards

6. Value Judgments vs. Objectivity • In sex research, value judgments can be blinders to understanding • Do not tell us what motivates people • Do not tell us how frequently people behave in a given way • Do not tell us how people feel • Only tell us how we ourselves feel

7. Value Judgments vs. Objectivity • Value judgments imply how a person ought to behave • Objective statements describe how people actually behave • Value judgments cannot be empirically evaluated • Objective statements can be empirically evaluated

8. Opinions, Biases, and Stereotypes • Opinions, biases, and stereotypes also interfere with the pursuit of knowledge • Opinions are unsubstantiated beliefs or conclusions according to an individual’s personal thoughts • Biases are personal leanings or inclinations • Stereotypes are sets of overgeneralized beliefs about an individual, a group, an idea, etc.

9. Opinions, Biases, and Stereotypes • Sexual stereotyping is often used to justify discrimination • Targets are usually members of subordinate social groups, such as • Women • Poor people • African Americans, Latino/as, Asian Americans • Gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender people

10. Stereotypes • Stereotypes structure knowledge. • They are a type of schema that organizes our thought process, affecting: • What we see • What we notice • What we remember • How we explain things

11. Confusing Attitudes and Behavior • Attitude: a predisposition a person has to act, think, or feel in certain ways • Behavior: the way a person acts • Frequent discrepancies exist between the two, on individual and cultural levels • Example: someone who disapproves of casual sex, yet engages in it

12. Egocentrism and Ethnocentrism • Fallacy: an error in reasoning that affects our understanding of a subject • Egocentric fallacy: the belief that our own personal experience & values are generally held by others • Ethnocentric fallacy: the belief that one’s own ethnic group, nation, or culture’s values and customs are innately superior to others’

13. Sex Research Methods • Scientific Method: the method by which a hypothesis is formed from impartially gathered data and tested empirically. • Induction: drawing a general conclusion from specific facts • Seeks to describe the world rather than evaluate or judge it

14. Research Concerns • Ethical • Concerns center on use of human beings as subjects of research • Methodological • Concerns center on information-gathering techniques and accuracy • A representative sample of people is necessary to draw accurate conclusions

15. Ethical Issues • Informed consent • Full disclosure of purpose, risk, benefits • Protection from harm • Includes anonymity • Use of deception • Some experiments involve deceiving subjects • Researcher debriefs subject afterwards to reveal deception

16. Sampling • Sample: a portion of a larger group of people observed or studied • Useful samples are: • Random • Representative • Reflect the larger group in terms of age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, etc. • An unrepresentative sample is called a “biased sample.”

17. Limitations of Samples • Most samples in sex research are limited • They depend on volunteers or clients • Research takes place at universities or colleges with student volunteers • Students not representative of general population • Some ethnic groups are underrepresented • It is difficult to recruit homosexual and bisexual subjects who have not “come out”

18. Clinical Research • Clinical Research: • An in-depth examination of an individual or group that comes to a specialist for assistance with disorders and problems • Limited by an emphasis on pathological (unhealthy or diseased) behavior • Dependent on cultural definitions of what is unhealthy

19. Survey Research • Uses questionnaires or interviews to gather information. • Limitations: • People do not report their own sexual behavior accurately • Interviewers may allow their preconceptions to influence questioning, which biases responses • Some respondents may not want to reveal “embarrassing” sexual information in a face-to-face interview

20. Survey Research • Limitations (continued): • Interviewer’s gender can influence disclosure • Accuracy of subjects’ memory fades as time passes • Difficult for subjects to accurately estimate factors such as how long sexual encounters last • New techniques: • Computer-based interviews • Internet questionnaires

21. Observational Research • The researcher unobtrusively observes and makes notes about people’s behavior • Serious ethical issues in observing sexual behavior without subjects’ knowledge or consent • Known observation generally affects behavior

22. Participant Observation • The researcher participates in the behaviors which she or he is studying • Used frequently by anthropologists • In sex research, more controversial • Snyder studied prostitution by becoming a customer • Humphreys studied anonymous sex by men in public bathrooms by becoming a lookout

23. Experimental Research • The systematic manipulation of individuals or the environment to learn the effect of such manipulation on behavior • Can control experiments by using variables • Independent variables: factors that can be manipulated and changed by the experimenter • Dependent variables: factors that are likely to be affected by changes in the independent variable

24. Experimental Research • Correlational studies: • Measure two or more naturally occurring variables to determine their relationship to each other • Can’t determine which variable causes which • Experimental studies • Manipulate the independent variables so researchers can determine which variables cause other variables to change

25. The Sex Researchers • In 19th century, Western sexuality began to be studied from a scientific framework • Fascinated with “pathologies” of sex: fetishism, sadism, masturbation, homosexuality • Since that time, a liberalizing trend in our thinking about sexuality • 20th century researchers viewed sexuality more positively

26. The Sex Researchers • Three themes evident in later 20th century sex researchers’ work: • Belief that sexual expression is essential to an individual’s well being • Desire to broaden the range of legitimate sexual activity, including homosexuality • Belief that female sexuality is equal of male sexuality

27. Richard von Krafft-Ebing(1840-1902) • Psychopathia Sexualis (1886): • A collection of the case histories of fetishists, sadists, masochists, and homosexuals • Attributed variations in Victorian sexuality to “hereditary taint,” “moral degeneracy,” and masturbation • Brought public attention to sexual behaviors that had never been documented

28. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) • Freud’s writings on sexuality have dramatically impacted Western ideas • Believed that sexuality begins at birth, with five-stage development: • Oral stage (birth to 1 year) • Anal stage (age 1-3) • Phallic stage (age 3-5) • Latency stage (age 6-puberty) • Genital stage (puberty onward)

29. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) • Phallic stage (age 3-5) • Boy develops sexual desires for mother and fears father: Oedipal Complex • Fears his father will cut off his penis: castration anxiety • Girl develops sexual desire for father and fears mother: Electra Complex • Girl discovers she doesn’t have a penis: penis envy • Girls never acquire the “lost penis” and therefore fail to develop an independent character like that of boys • By age 6, both boys and girls resolve their complexes by relinquishing their desires for their parents and identifying with their same-sex parent

30. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) • Freud was pioneering in commitment to science and explorations of the unconscious • His influence among American sex researchers has dwindled • Criticized for his lack of empiricism and inadequate description of female development • In the field of sex research, his work is now primarily of historical interest

31. Havelock Ellis (1859-1939) • Set himself against Victorian repression of sexuality • One of the first modern affirmers of sexuality • Studies in the Psychology of Sex (1897-1910) • Pointed out the relativity of sexual values • Appealed to case studies as well as studies in animal behavior, anthropology, and history • Challenged view that masturbation was abnormal • Documented existence of women’s sexual desires • Reevaluated homosexuality as a congenital condition

32. Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956) • “The Kinsey Reports” • Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) • Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953) • Statistical documentation of American sexual behavior • Showed a significant discrepancy between public standards and actual standards of sexual behavior

33. Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956) • Sexual Diversity & Variation • Extraordinary diversity in behaviors of subjects • Reevaluation of Masturbation • Deemed it important for women, harmless, and pleasurable

34. Kinsey’s Scale from 0 to 6

35. Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956) • Same-Sex Behavior • Many subjects (e.g. 50% of men) had had sexual experiences with members of the same-sex • Labels of “heterosexual” and “homosexual” are inadequate ways of understanding sexual behavior • Devised the “Kinsey Scale,” a continuum to chart the proportion of an individual’s sexual behaviors with same- or other-sex individuals

36. Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956) • Rejection of Normal/Abnormal Dichotomy • Sexual differences are a matter of degree, not kind. • Became a leading advocate of the toleration of sexual differences • Criticisms of Kinsey: • Statistical methodology: unrepresentative sampling • Emphasis on quantification of sexual behavior • Rejection of the psychological dimension (reducing behavior to genital activity)

37. Masters & Johnson • Human Sexual Response (1966) • Detailed the sexual response cycles of hundreds of male and female research subjects • Combined clinical observation with direct measurement of genital arousal using electronic devices • Outcomes: • Male and female sexual responses are very similar • Women achieve orgasm primarily via clitoral stimulation • Legitimized female masturbation

38. Masters & Johnson • Human Sexual Inadequacy (1970) • Argued that sexual problems were not the result of neuroses or personality disorders • Rather, lack of information, poor communication, or relationship conflict contributed • Used behavioral therapy to treat sexual problems • Achieved astounding increase in rate of successful treatment

39. Contemporary Research Studies • Several large-scale sexuality related studies have recently been conducted • The National Health and Social Life Survey (1994) • The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (biannual) • The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (annual) • The National Survey of Family Growth (periodic) • College Alcohol Study (every few years) • Community Intervention Trial for Youth Project

40. The National Health & Social Life Survey (1994) • Findings: • Americans are largely monogamous • On average, Americans have sex about once a week • Adultery is the exception, not the rule • Most Americans are fairly “traditional” in the bedroom • Vaginal intercourse ranked as favorite activity

41. The National Health & Social Life Survey (1994) • Homosexuality less prevalent than originally believed • Orgasms appear to be the rule for men and the exception for women • Married women more likely to report they “usually” or “always” have orgasms • Forced sex and the misperception of it remain critical problems • 3% of adult Americans claim never to have had sex

42. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey • Measures health risk behaviors among high school students, including • Sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy, STDs, & HIV • 2001 findings include: • 46% report having had sexual intercourse • 58% of those students used a condom during their last sexual intercourse • 26% of sexually active students report using alcohol or drugs during most recent sexual experience • Can show correlations between risk behaviors among students

43. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System • An annualstate-based survey of adults, age 18-49, sponsored by the CDC • Gathers information on health behaviors including those which prevent or transmit HIV • Some findings: • Half of those who used condoms at last intercourse used them to prevent disease & pregnancy, while only 1 in 10 used a condom only to prevent disease • Less than 1 in 10 believed that their chances of acquiring HIV were medium to high.

44. The National Survey of Family Growth • Conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) • Collects data related to marriage, divorce, contraception, infertility, and health of women & infants • Some findings: • 1 in 4 women who cohabitates with a man does not expect to marry him • Cohabitating women’s marriage expectations are correlated to the social and economic status of the man

45. College Alcohol Study • Conducted by Harvard School of Public Health • Examines college alcohol abuse & other high-risk behaviors including unsafe sex • Some findings: • 71% of respondents reported being sexually experienced • Less than one-half reported always using a condom, and 24% reported never using condoms • Younger students who lived on campus were more likely to report consistent condom use • Men reporting more sex partners tended to report less consistent condom use

46. Community Intervention Trial for Youth Project • Funded bythe CDC • A multi-site evaluation of a comprehensive community-level HIV prevention intervention in 13 urban areas • Surveyed men age 15-25 who reported sexual experience with a male in the past year • One-fifth reported being high on drugs or alcohol during their most recent sexual encounter • One-quarter with a main sex partner reported anal intercourse without condom use

47. Emerging Research Perspectives • Feminist Scholarship • Focuses on gender issues, distribution of power in sexual relationships • Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Research • Focuses on the psychological and social experience of being transgender and/or other than heterosexual

48. Ethnicity and Sexuality • Researchers have begun to recognize the significance of ethnicity in sexuality • Differences among ethnic groups • Differences within ethnic groups • Related factors: socioeconomic status, environment, methodology, researcher’s stereotypes

49. Ethnicity and Sexuality • Sexual stereotyping by Euro-Americans has distorted public & scientific understanding of the sexuality of minority racial groups • Examples of stereotypes: • African-Americans as hypersexual • Latina women as permissive and Latino men as macho • Asian sexuality as exotic

50. Ethnicity and Sexuality • Some important factors in studying sexuality and ethnicity: • African-Americans: the role of socioeconomic status in sexual values and behaviors • Latino/as: the diversity of ethnic subgroups, the degree of acculturation into American culture • Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders: the diversity of cultures, the role of familial relationships