Preview p.108 Consider your own experiences with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Have you experienced true hunger or thirst that displaced your concern for other, higher-level needs? Do you usually feel safe? Loved? Confident? How often do you feel you are able to address what Maslow called your “self-actualization” needs?

Sexual Motivation pp. 481 -494

Optimum Arousal Theory Review Sensation-seeking behavior: Human motivation aims not to eliminate arousal but to seek optimum levels of arousal

The Kinsey Reports Challenged conventional beliefs about sexuality Discussed subjects that had previously been taboo. The “Kinsey scale” most American males fell in the 1 to 2 range 10% of the population homosexual Sampling Issues: 25% prison inmates, 5% male prositutes

Sexual Dysfunctions Hypoactive desire/Aversion to sex Erectile dysfunction/Sexual arousal disorder Premature ejaculation Dysparuenia

Sexual Paraphilias Fetishism Exhibitionism Sadism/Masochism Voyeruism Pedophilia

Gender Identity Disorder Feels a strong identification with the opposite sex Experiences great discomfort with anatomic gender Affects individual’s self-image

Hormones and Sexual Behavior Estrogen Testosterone

Teen Pregnancy Ignorance Guilt related to sexual activity Minimal communication about birth control Alcohol use Mass media norms of unprotected promiscuity

Sexually Transmitted Infections Two-thirds of new infections occur in persons under 25 2011 CDC study of U.S. high school students: 47.4% had ever had sexual intercourse 33.7% had had sexual intercourse in the last 3 months, and of these 39.8% did not use a condom the last time they had sex 76.7% did not use birth control the last time they had sex 15.3% had sex with four or more people in their life

Sexually Transmitted Infections An estimated 8,300 young people aged 13-24 years in the 40 states reporting to CDC had HIV infection in 2009 Nearly half of the 19 million new STD’s each year are among young people aged 15-24 years More than 400,000 teen girls aged 15-19 years gave birth in 2009

Predictors of Sexual Restraint High intelligence Religiosity Father presence Participation in service learning programs

Sexual Orientation As recently as the 1970s, the American Psychiatric Association classified homosexuality as a mental illness in the DSM. Today, psychiatrists and psychologists DO NOT view homosexuality as a mental disorder.

Be intolerant of intolerance There is no excuse for negative prejudice or discrimination against people that you may feel are different sexually.

Origins of Sexual Orientation Is homosexuality linked with problems in a child’s relationships with parents, such as with a domineering mother and an ineffectual father, or a possessive mother and a hostile father? Does homosexuality involve a fear or hatred of people of the other gender, leading individuals to direct their sexual desires toward members of their own sex? Is sexual orientation linked with levels of sex hormones currently in the blood? As children, were many homosexuals molested, seduced, or otherwise sexually victimized by an adult homosexual?

After examining all relevant information... NO

Biological Influences on Orientation Natural part of the animal world Hypothalamic differences Shared sexual orientation is higher among identical twins than among fraternal twins Altered prenatal hormone exposure may lead to homosexuality in humans and others animals. **Correlational findings = limited conclusions

Sex and Human Values

Process p.108 How might the evolutionary perspective, drive-reduction theory, and arousal theory explain our sexual motivation?

Process p.108 (ANSWERS) Drive-reduction theory could imply that hormonal influences create a driven state that compels us to reduce the drive. Arousal theory could add that people sometimes seek the the pleasure and stimulation of arousal, with social-cultural influences on what leads people to feel aroused and how they seek optimum arousal levels. Evolutionary psychologists would remind us that those motivated to mate were more likely to leave descendants - us - than were others who lacked sexual motivation