Sexual motivation

Sexual motivation is influenced by a variety of factors including biological, psychological, and social elements. Understanding these motivations can provide insight into human behavior in intimate relationships.

Sexual Motivation

• Sex is a pervasive topic in society, similar to food, influencing jokes, media, and advertising.

• Research suggests a link between frequent sex and greater well-being (Cheng & Smyth, 2015).

• The correlation plateaus after weekly sex, but it underscores sex's importance (Muise, Schimmack & Impett, 2015).

The Human Sexual Response

• Masters and Johnson's 1960s research detailed the human sexual response.

• The sexual response cycle has four stages: excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution (Masters & Johnson, 1966, 1970).

Excitement Phase

• Physical arousal increases rapidly.

• Muscle tension, respiration rate, heart rate, and blood pressure rise.

• Vasocongestion occurs, leading to penile erection and swollen testes in males.

• In females, vasocongestion causes clitoral swelling, expansion of vaginal lips, and lubrication.

Plateau Phase

• Arousal continues to build, but slower.

• Arousal may fluctuate if foreplay is prolonged.

Orgasm Phase

• Sexual arousal peaks, releasing muscular contractions in the pelvic area.

• Subjective experience is similar for men and women.

• Women can experience multiple orgasms more easily than men.

• However, women are also more likely to have intercourse without orgasm (Katz-Wise & Hyde, 2014).

• Laumann et al. (1994) found that 78% of men, but only 28% of women, always have an orgasm with their partner in the 35-39 age range.

• More recent surveys indicate that the gender gap may not be as large (Herbenick et al., 2010).

Resolution Phase

• Physiological changes subside.

• Tension reduces slowly if orgasm hasn't occurred.

• Men experience a refractory period, during which they are unresponsive to stimulation.

• The refractory period varies and increases with age.

Evolutionary Analysis of Sexual Motivation

• Evolutionary psychology explains sexual behavior through reproductive success and natural selection.

• Robert Trivers's (1972) parental investment theory guides this analysis.

• Parental investment includes time, energy, survival risk, and missed opportunities.

• Differences in parental investment shape mating strategies.

• Human males invest little beyond copulation, maximizing reproductive potential by mating with numerous females.

• Females invest nine months in pregnancy and additional years in nursing, limiting offspring number.

• Females maximize reproductive potential by selective mating.

• Males compete for reproductive opportunities.

• Parental investment theory predicts men desire more sexual activity and variety, and are more willing to engage in uncommitted sex (Schmitt, 2016).

• Females are conservative and selective, seeking partners who can provide for offspring.

• Ancestral males' strength and resources were crucial for survival.

Gender Differences in Sexual Activity

• Males generally show greater interest in sex.

• Men think about sex more, have more fantasies, and rate their sex drive higher (Impett, Muise, & Peragine, 2014).

• Men are more likely to enjoy pornography (Herbenick et al., 2017) with 66% of men finding erotic videos appealing versus 42% of women.

• Males masturbate more (Regnerus, Price, & Gordon, 2017) and are slightly more likely to have affairs (Petersen & Hyde, 2011).

• In heterosexual couples, men want sex more often (Herbenick, Mullinax, & Mark, 2014).

• This disparity may widen with age (Lindau & Gavrilova, 2010).

• For instance, interest in sex is higher for men, with 62% of men interested versus 38% of women in the 55-64 age range.

• Men want more sexual partners (Schmitt, 2016).

• Buss and Schmitt (1993) found men ideally want 18 partners, while women want only five.

• This was observed across 10 major world regions (Schmitt et al., 2003).

• Men are more willing to have casual sex.

• Clark and Hatfield (1989) found that 75% of men agreed to sex with a stranger, while no women did.

• Comparable findings were seen in a similar study (Hald & Høgh-Olesen, 2010).

Gender Differences in Mate Preferences

• Parental investment theory predicts men prioritize youthfulness and attractiveness in partners.

• Women prioritize intelligence, ambition, education, income, and social status.

• These preferences should be universal (Buss, 1989).

• Buss (1989) surveyed 10,000 people in 37 cultures and found women valued status and financial prospects.

• Men valued youthfulness and physical attractiveness.

Criticism and Alternative explanations

• Skeptics propose alternative explanations.

• Women valuing resources may be due to cultural and economic forces (Eagly & Wood, 1999).

• Limited economic potential historically may cause this.

• Cultural norms may suppress female sexuality (Baumeister & Twenge, 2002).

• Research shows gender equality reduces disparities in mating preferences (Zentner & Mitura, 2012).

The Mystery of Sexual Orientation

• Sexual orientation is a person's preference for emotional and sexual relationships with individuals of the same sex, the other sex, or either sex.

• Terms include heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual (gay/lesbian).

• The abbreviation LGBTQI+ is used as an inclusive term to refer to people who do not identify as being heterosexual.

Sexual Orientation as a Continuum

• Kinsey (1948, 1953) proposed that heterosexuality and homosexuality are on a continuum rather than distinct categories.

• He created a seven-point scale to describe sexual orientation.

• Some researchers view sexual orientation as separate categories (Norris, Marcus, & Green, 2015), while the continuum view remains influential (Savin-Williams, 2014).

• Walton, Lykins and Bhullar (2016) assert that the Kinsey continuum 'may not adequately reflect current expressions of sexual identity, particularly in Western society'.

Prevalence of Homosexuality

• The prevalence of homosexuality is complex and debated (Savin-Williams, 2006).

• Surveys differ in how they identify sexual orientation, and self-identification may not align with behavior.

• Sutherland et al. (2016) indicated that about 1.4% of South Africans identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or other.

• Attitudes and behaviors change over time.

• Twenge, Sherman and Wells (2016) found attitudes about same-sex activity have become more favorable.

• More people report same-sex sexual activity.

• Recent data suggest bisexuality is more common than previously thought (Diamond, 2014).

Environmental Theories

• Environmental theories explaining homosexuality have received little empirical support.

• Psychoanalytic theory suggests a weak father and overprotective mother cause male homosexuality.

• Behavioral theory suggests homosexuality is learned through same-sex stimuli paired with arousal.

• Research has failed to support these theories (Bailey et al., 2016).

Biological Theories

• Biological theories have gained traction since the 1990s.

• Bailey and Pillard (1991) found higher rates of homosexuality in identical twins (52%) compared to fraternal twins (22%) and adoptive brothers (11%).

• Bailey et al. (1993) had similar results for lesbians.

• These findings suggest a genetic predisposition to homosexuality (Hill, Dawood, & Puts, 2013).

• Bailey et al. (2016) estimate the heritability of sexual orientation to be about 0.32.

• Prenatal hormones may influence sexual orientation (James, 2005).

• High androgen levels during prenatal development may lead to homosexuality in women (Rosario & Scrimshaw, 2014).

• However, prenatal hormones are not the only factor.

• Females' sexuality is more fluid (Baumeister, 2004; Diamond, 2009).

• Erotic plasticity is the degree to which attraction is formed by situational factors.

• Lesbian and bisexual women often change their sexual orientation (Diamond, 2008, 2013).

• Lesbians are less likely to trace their homosexuality back to childhood.

Sexual Orientation Fluidity and Arousal Patterns

• Some individuals report a shift in same-sex attraction from childhood to adulthood, indicating fluidity in sexual orientation.

• Lab studies show that many heterosexual women exhibit arousal to both male and female stimuli, contrasting with heterosexual men who primarily show arousal to male stimuli.

• This gender gap suggests that sexual orientation may be more complex than commonly perceived.