Sexual Behavior

If biological needs for shelter and food are not met, it is far less likely to achieve or even seek out needs related to intimacy and self-actualization. There is a stepwise association between the different needs. While Maslow s hierarchy has some application to the real world, it has been criticized because it is very subjective and doesn t always apply to real-world actuality.

SEXUAL BEHAVIOR

The evolutionary basis for sexual behavior is the perpetuation of the species but this is a drive that is more complex than that. Sexual behavior and motivation have been extensively researched in animals and somewhat in humans. The hypothalamus is the main brain organ responsible for sexual drive. Lesions to this area affect one s sexual abilities.

The limbic system and primarily the amygdala and nucleus accumbens also drive sexual motivation but they do not remove the ability to engage in sexual behavior. The dissociation of the motivation and ability can happen in male and female rats that have been studied.

In humans, hypothalamic lesions lead to reduced gonadal functioning and reduced sexual functioning overall. This is because it affects the hormones that control sexual function. In both males and females, it is testosterone, the levels of which are controlled by the hypothalamus, that controls both male and female sexual drives or what s called libido.

Alfred Kinsey was one of the first to study sexuality in humans in the late 1940s. He published the first books on human sexuality, which had previously not been studied. Kinsey established an institute that exists today, called the Kinsey Institute for Research, Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. His books are sold frequently to doctors and lay people alike, even though they were controversial in some parts of the world. It was demonstrated by his research that some sexual behaviors considered rare were actually very common in the general public.

According to Kinsey s research, women are equally interested in sex compared to men and both genders masturbate. Homosexuality was considered much more common

than once thought. He developed a continuum along sexual orientation, extending from purely heterosexual to purely homosexual. Individuals in the middle of the scale were considered bisexual.

William Masters and Virginia Johnson studied human sexual behavior in the 1960s. They observed 700 people and got their responses with regard to their sexual behavior. They watched people masturbating and people having intercourse. Specifically, they studied physiological variables during sex and looked at measures of sexual arousal.

Masters and Johnson devised the sexual response cycle, which is divided into four separate phases. The first is the excitement phase, also called the arousal phase. Plateau phase involves increased blood flow to the pelvic and genital organs, with swelling of the clitoris and complete penile erection. Then comes orgasm, which involves rhythmic contractions in women. Resolution is when the sexual response diminishes and physiological variables normalize. Women can repeat this cycle quickly but men have a longer refractory period in which an orgasm cannot occur.

About 3 to 10 percent of individuals in the US are homosexual or bisexual. It was once believed that socialization and family experiences guided individuals into being homosexual or heterosexual but this has largely been unconfirmed. Genetic and biological mechanisms are now believed to play a large role in sexual orientation. There have been genes believed to play a role and brain structure and function seem to be different in homosexual people compared to heterosexual people. It is now believed that sexual orientation is something a person is born with.

Sexual orientation is not a choice but is a stable quality of a given person. While there have been claims of successful conversion from homosexuality to heterosexuality but this has been greatly criticized. These types of conversions are not recommended and are probably not going to be helpful. In some states, conversion therapy is illegal and it is considered to be largely harmful to the person.

Gender identity is not the same as sexual orientation. It involves having the sense of being male or female, which is not always the same as one s phenotypical appearance. Gender dysphoria involves having distress about one s gender identity. Not all people