Gender Identity and Sexuality

Biological Sex – Assigned genitalia, sex from birth.

Gender Identity – Internal and individual experience of gender. It is
their sense of being a woman, man, or neither. It may be the same
or different from their birth–assigned sex.
Sexual Orientation – Who they are attracted to, or drawn
romantically or emotionally.
Intersexes:

• Hermaphrodite
• congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) – overdevelopment of
• the adrenal glands from birth
• Most common cause of the intersex condition.
• ACTH (too much)
• Cortisol (too little or absent)
 Hypotheses on the Causes What does the bible say?

Prenatal influences: • Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in His own image, in
the image of God He created them; male and female He
• Stress and alcohol level of the mother during pregnancy created them.
• Mother’s immune system The Bible inextricably (inseparably) ties gender to
biological sex and does not make a distinction between the
Brain anatomy:
two.
• Homosexual men are shifted partly in the female-typical • The Scripture acknowledges, however that due to the Fall,
direction for some brain structures but not others and vice the whole human being (mental, physical and spiritual
versa. faculties) are affected by sin and need to be renewed by
God. Our emotions, feelings and perceptions are not fully
reliable indicators of God’s designs, ideals and truth.
Sexual Behaviors:
Brain – the largest sex organ controlling the biological urges,
mental processes, as well as emotional and physical responses to
sex
Roles of the brain in sexual activity:
1. The brain is responsible for translating the nerve impulses
sensed by the skin into pleasurable sensations.
2. It controls the nerves and muscles used in sexual activity.
3. Sexual thoughts and fantasies are theorized to lie in the
cerebral cortex, the same area used for thinking and
reasoning.
4. Emotions and feelings (which are important for sexual
• we don’t know whether these brain differences are causes behavior) are believed to originate in the limbic system.
or effects of sexual orientation because persistent 5. The brain releases the hormones considered the
behaviors can change brain anatomy. physiological origin of sexual desire.
• The published papers likely overstate certain anatomical
differences (Kalat, 2019).
• Oxytocin – known as the “love hormone” and believed to be
involved in the desire to maintain close relationships. It is
released during sexual intercourse when orgasm is achieved.
• Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) – It is responsible for the
ovulation of females.
• Luteinizing hormone (LH) – is crucial in regulating the testes in
men and ovaries in women. In men, it stimulates the testes to
produce testosterone.
• Vasopressin – involved in male sexual arousal. Directly
associated with increased motivation to engage in sexual
behavior.
• Estrogen and Progesterone – regulate motivation to engage in
sexual behavior in females, with estrogen increasing
motivation and progesterone decreasing it.
The Chemistry of Love, Lust, and Attraction:
EGW Admonition
Young people are sent to school by their parents to obtain an
education, not to flirt with the opposite sex. The good of society,
as well as the highest interest of the students, demands that they
shall not attempt to select a life partner while their own character
is yet undeveloped, their judgment immature, and while they are
at the same time deprived of parental care and guidance.—1MCP
302.3
Love is not unreasonable; it is not blind. It is pure and holy. But
the passion of the natural heart is another thing altogether. While
pure love will take God into all its plans and will be in perfect
harmony with the Spirit of God, passion will be headstrong, rash,
unreasonable defiant of all restraint and will make the object of its
choice an idol. -1MCP

• Lust (erotic passion) – marked by physical attraction. You want

to seduce and be seduced by your object of affection. Lust is
driven by testosterone in men and estrogen in women. Lust,
however, will not guarantee that the couple will fall in love in
any lasting way.
• Attraction (romantic passion) – at this stage, you crave for your
partner’s presence. You feel excited and energetic as you
fantasize about the things you could do together as a couple.
✓ Chemicals that trigger this feeling: norepinephrine,
dopamine, and serotonin.
• Attachment (commitment) – involves the desire to have a
lasting commitment with your significant other. At this point,
you may want to get married and/or have children.
 Spirituality
Spiritual Self:
• The most intimate, inner subjective part of the self
• Most intimate version of the self because of the satisfaction
experienced when thinking of one’s ability to argue and
discriminate, of one’s moral sensibility and conscience, and of
our unconquerable will is purer than all other sentiments of
satisfaction
Spiritual vs. Religious:
• Spiritual is defined as relating to or affecting the human
spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things
• A religious person is someone who believes in a god or
group of gods and consciously adheres to the beliefs of
his/her religion.
• A spiritual person places little importance on beliefs and
traditions and is more concerned with growing and
experiencing the Divine.
Why is spirituality important?
• Spiritual practices are associated with better health and
well-being.
• Associations between spiritual health, resilience and
psychological well-being have been established through
literature. Maternal spiritual health is a significant predictor
of resilience (p < .01) of their young adults. (Goshaland
Mehrota, 2017)
• Spiritual fellowship can be a source of social support that
provide belongingness, security, and community.
• Contemplative practices are methods to develop
concentration, deepen understanding and insight and
cultivate awareness and compassion.
• Spirituality, has positive benefits for longevity and quality
of life, and was viewed by Adler as central to holism and
wellness (Mansager, 2000). It incorporates one’s existential
sense of meaning, purpose, and hopefulness toward life.
God-shaped brain by Dr. Jennings:
• The core, central, primary characteristic of God….is love
• God’s very nature is other-centered love
• We see the circle of love, the law of life in everything God
creates…in all life we see this circle of giving, which is the
law of love.
• Sin severs the circle of life
• The lifeblood of an animal, is naturally, its physical blood.
• The lifeblood of the economy is money; of an appliance,
electricity. But the lifeblood of the universe is love, which
flows from God through Christ to all creation and back to
God through Christ again. This is God’s design template.
This is the blueprint on which humanity was created to
operate!
• Whenever the circle of giving – the circle of love – is
broken, pain, suffering and death inevitably follow. And it is
only the love flowing from God that restores life health and
happiness.
How God Changes Your Brain by Newberg and Waldman
• If a belief in God provides you with a sense of comfort and
security, then God will enhance your life. But if you see God
as a vindictive deity who gives you justification for inflicting
harm on others, such a belief can damage your brain as it
motivates you to act in socially destructive ways.
• But religious and spiritual contemplation changes your
brain in a profoundly different way because it strengthens
a unique neural circuit that specifically enhances social
awareness and empathy while subduing destructive
feelings and emotions.
Favor is heaped upon favor, gift upon gift. The whole treasure of Filipino Identity:
heaven is open to those He seeks to save. Having collected the
Foreign culture, beliefs, language, and religion have made a huge
riches of universe, and laid open the resources of infinite power,
dent on our own by setting a foundation to the contemporary
He gives them all into the hands of Christ, and says, All these are
Filipino identity and culture.
for man. Use these gifts to convince him that there is no love
greater than Mine in earth or heaven. His greatest happiness will Filipino characteristics are rooted from:
be found in Me.
DA 57.1 1. Home environment 6. Religion
2. Social environment 7. Economic environment
Cultural Identity 3. Culture and language 8. Political environment
4. History 9. Mass media
The identity of belonging to a group. It is part of a person's self- 5. Educational system 10. Leadership and role models
conception and self-perception and is related
to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality, Filipino values and traits:
or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture. • Filipino Hospitality
• Central to a person’s sense of self - Filipinos welcome their guests and tourists as if they
• Dynamic are their own brothers and sisters. They always make
their guests feel at home, offering them something to
• Can also refer to principles and lifestyles that individuals share
eat, or even a place to stay.
with others.
• Respect for Elders
• Normally, people internalize the beliefs, values, norms, and
- Filipinos greet their elders by kissing their hand while
social practices of their culture and identify themselves with
saying “Mano po!” and constantly using “po” and “opo”
that culture. The culture becomes a part of their self-concept
in conversations.
Lustig, 2013)
- A wide array of references to elder people such as ate
Who is a Filipino? for older sister; kuya for older brother; tito and tita for
uncle and aunt; lolo and lola for grandfather and
According to the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Filipino citizens
grandmother; and manong and aling for older people
are:
outside the family.
“…those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the
• Cheerful Personality
Philippines, those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino
- Filipinos smile when they are happy, or sometimes even
mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of
when they are sad or angry. Smiling has been a coping
majority, and those who are naturalized in accordance with law.”
strategy for many Filipinos especially during trying
Citizenship is not the only marker of being a Filipino; People who
times and calamities.
were born and grew up in the same culture develop and share
common personality traits and values.
• Close Family ties
- Filipinos maintain a tight relationship with their families.
They are fond of family reunions during birthdays,
holidays, or fiestas year-round.
• Self-sacrifice
- Filipinos go out of their way to extend help to their
friends, families, and loved ones.
- Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) sacrifice a lot. That is
why they are regarded as modern-day Filipino heroes.
• “Ningas Kugon”
- “Ningas” is a Filipino term for flame and “kugon” is a
Filipino term for Cogon grass that easily burns out after
it is put into flames. It is the attitude of eagerly starting
things but quickly losing eagerness soon after
Filipino Markers:
experiencing difficulty.
• Bayanihan
- It is the spirit of communal unity and cooperation of
Filipinos. It is also about giving without expecting
something in return.
• “Bahala Na” attitude
- It is the Filipino version of the famous line “Hakuna
Matata,” meaning no worries.
- The phrase is said to have originated from “Bathala na,”
where Bathala means God, and the phrase meaning
leaving everything into God’s hands.
- Filipino term for procrastination; derived from a Filipino
phrase called “Mamaya na” meaning dawdling things,
which could have been done at an earlier time.
• Colonial mentality
- It is regarded as the lack of patriotism and the attitude
where Filipinos favor foreign products more than their
own; but also the desire to look more foreign than local
and keep up with foreign beauty trends.
• Filipino time
- Filipinos have this common attitude of arriving late at
commitments, dinner, or parties especially if they are
meeting someone close to them.
• Pride
- Most Filipinos hold on to their pride as if they are more
precious than keeping a good relationship with family
and loved ones.
• Crab mentality.
- It is a toxic trait among Filipinos where one resents the
achievement of another, instead of feeling happy for
that person; just like crabs in a container, they pull each
other down.
• Proverbs or Salawikain
✓ proverbs express a general attitude toward life and the
laws that govern life.
✓ ethical proverbs recommending certain virtues and
condemning certain vices.
✓ proverbs expressing a system of values
✓ proverbs expressing general truths and observations about
life and human nature.
✓ humorous proverbs
✓ miscellaneous proverbs
✓ Proverbs or Salawikain examples:
a) Ang taong nagigipit, sa patalim kumakapit
b) Pag maliit ang kumot, matutong mamaluktot
c) Nasa Dios ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa.
d) Kung walang tiyaga, walang nilaga
• Superstitions
✓ Filipinos’ set of superstitions passed down from generation
to generation.
Some of these may be influenced by beliefs from other
cultures, but Filipinos have retold these superstitions
according to their own experiences.
✓ Superstitious belief examples:
o Papag
o Tao po
o Sukob
• Myths and Legends
✓ Due to the Philippines’s rich culture and history, numerous
myths and legends have sprung.
✓ These stories are aimed to explain the origin of things, at
the same time, teach a valuable lesson.
• Heroes and Icons
✓ Heroes serve as a reminder of true patriotism and
nationalism as they have sacrificed their lives for the sake
of their country’s freedom and progress.
✓ Famous Filipino icons such as Lea Salonga, Manny
Pacquiao, and our very own national hero, Jose Rizal, have
made the Filipino name more pronounced worldwide
through their own expertise.
Generational Differences
Gen Z:
• Also known as ‘generation connected’ or ‘dot com kids’
• This generation has been raised on the internet and social
media
• stereotyped as tech-addicted, anti-social, or “social justice
warriors.”
Gen Alpha:
• pre-schooler and kindergarteners of today
known as ‘digital natives’.
• the most materially endowed and technologically literate
generation
• their pacifiers have not been a rattle or a set of keys but a
smartphone or tablet device."
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,
there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:28
Coping Self
• Effective coping skills with multiple stressors that are inherent
to the environment
• Realistic Beliefs (avoiding the trap of perfectionism or the
should or ought's)
• Stress management (effective coping strategies)
• Self-worth (Positive self-concept and good self-esteem)
• Leisure (A person who is constantly tense and do not have
much fun in life usually not fun for others to be around)
Stress Terminology:
• Stress: The effect of anything in life to which people must
adjust. Stress requires us to adjust our attention and behavior
and makes demands on our energy.
• Stressor: Anything that has the effect of causing stress.
• Stress Capacity: The amount of stress a person can carry, since
each person has some stress in their lives.
• Stress Load: This refers to the amount, or quantity, of stress a
person has in their lives.
Red Cross, 2002
Types of Stress Reaction:
• Physiological Stress Reactions: “I have stomach/head aches”,
“My heart beats fast”, “I was shivering”
• Emotional Stress Reactions: “I am scared/I feel fear”, “I am
afraid that people were hurt”, “I felt sad”
• Cognitive Stress Reactions: “I am occupied with my thoughts”,
“I imagine people getting killed”, “I don’t know what will
happen to my house or my friends”.
• Behavioral Stress Reactions: “I cover my head with my
blanket”, “I run away”, “I scream and swear”.
Learned Response:
• Brain chemistry and development is affected by a
distressing event
• Immediate “fight or flight” response
• Heightened sense of fear/danger
What we know about disasters:

• Negative strategies = higher PTSD, depression

• Negative self-attribution and guilt = higher PTSD
• Higher PTSD, depression = use more strategies
Define Coping:
Constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to
manage specific external and/or internal demands that are
appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of a person
(Folkman & Lazarus, 1984, p. 141)

…anything people do to adjust to the challenges and demands

of stress… any adjustments made to reduce the negative impact
of stress (Red Cross: Community-based Psychological Support, p.
87)

Conceptualizing Coping Strategies:

a) Biological/physiological – fight or flight

b) Cognitive – how we think about the situation

c) Behavioral – behavior related to mental process

d) Learned – strategies learned from modeling/observation

e) Intentioned – voluntary/involuntary
 Models of Coping
Transactional Model of Coping
Core Assumptions:

• Stressful experiences are construed as person-environment

transactions.
Transactions depend on the impact of the external stressor
• Impact is mediated individual/environmental antecedents,
by the person’s repeated appraisal of the stressor, and
coping responses.
The system changes moment to moment
Lazarus, 1999 Emotion Focused Coping:
Coping efforts that are directed toward regulating emotional
Transactional Model Concepts: states:
-- Denial/avoidance
1. Primary appraisal -- Distraction or minimization
2. Secondary appraisal -- Wishful thinking
3. Coping efforts -- Self-control of feelings
4. Problem management -- Seeking meaning
5. Emotional Regulation -- Self-blame
6. Meaning-based coping -- Expressing/sharing feelings
7. Outcomes of coping
8. Dispositional coping styles
9. Optimism
10. Information seeking
Glanz, Rimer, & Lewis, 2002
Problem Focused Coping: Involuntary Strategies
Efforts to act on the source of stress to change 4. Involuntary Engagement – Directed toward
the person, the environment, or the relationship the stressor or their emotional reactions (arousal,
between the two: rumination, impulsive action)
5. Involuntary Disengagement – Directed away from the
1. Planned problem solving stressor or their emotional reactions (emotional numbing,
2. Confrontation escape)

Compas & Epping, 1993 Wadsworth et al, 2004

Motivational Model of Coping:

Innate Psychological Needs

• Relatedness
• Competence
• Autonomy

Universal Stressors

• Neglect
• Chaos
• Coercion
Skinner & Wellborn, 1997

Responses to Stress Levels: The Community Stress Prevention Model:

Voluntary Strategies Six dimensions central to coping with adversity:

1. Primary Control Coping - Attempts to modify 1. Beliefs/Values – relies on values to cope

stressful problem or emotion (problem solving) 2.
2. Secondary Control Coping – Attempts to adapt 3.
via cognition (cognitive restructuring) 4.
3. Disengagement Coping – Attempts to redirect 5.
attention away from the stressor or emotional 6.
reaction (denial, wishful thinking)
Affect – emotion expression as coping mechanism
Social – seeking support/relationships
Imagination – creative expression to cope
Cognitive – need honest dialogue & guidance
Physiological – physical activity as coping
Lahad, Shacham, & Niv, 2000
 The Importance of Self-care

Retrain and Rebalance

“God designed our bodies to function in balanced cycles of work
and rest. We need to cooperate with our bodies’ requirements in
order to achieve a healthy balance”
Coping Strategies
Activities that can be self – initiated:

• Reaching out to others for support

• Eating comfort/healthy foods
• Doing exercises
• Stress reduction and relaxation techniques
• Doing things that divert your attention
• Doing things you enjoy
• Getting sunlight/fresh air
• Meditation through prayer
 Worry is blind and cannot discern the future, but Jesus sees the
end from the beginning. In every difficulty He has His way
prepared to bring relief.—The Desire of Ages, 330 (1898).
All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall
receive” (Matthew 21:22).
Social Self
• Affect: How do we evaluate ourselves, enhance our self-
images, and defend against threats to our self-esteem?
• Behavior: How do we regulate our actions and present
ourselves according to interpersonal demands?
• Cognition: How do we come to know ourselves, develop a self-
concept, and maintain a stable sense of identity?
Social Self:
• Ability to relate to the world in socially-connected manner
• Friendship (People with a lot of friends live longer and happier
than those who don’t)
• Love (central dimension of positive psychology and wellness
counseling)
• Through interaction with their social and cultural environments,
people are transformed into participating members of their
society.
Socialization:
The interactive process through which people learn:
• Basic skills
• Values
• Beliefs
• Behavior patterns of a society
Within socialization, a person develops a sense of self
Conscious awareness of possessing a distinct identity that
separates you from other members of society.
Theories of Socialization:
John Locke
• English philosopher from the 1600’s.
• Insisted each newly born human being is a
tabula rasa “blank slate”
• No personality
• Newborns could be molded into anything
with training.
Charles H. Cooley
• Developed idea of looking glass self
• The interactive process by which we develop
an image of ourselves based on how we imagine
we appear to others.
Ex: Other people act as a mirror reflecting back
the image we see with their reactions.
Fear = ugliness
Looking Glass Theory:
3 steps
1. We imagine how we appear to others.
2. Based on the other’s reactions, we attempt to determine
whether they view us as we see ourselves.
3. We use our perceptions of how others judge us to develop
feelings about ourselves.

George Herbert Meade
• Believed that we not only see
ourselves as others see us, but actually take
on the roles of others.
• Called role-taking
• Socialization process that allows a
person to anticipate what others expect of us.
EX: being a good person around grandma!
You do so because she is a good person!
Meade’s “generalized other”
3 -5 years
Children learn to play and act out roles
Can play “house” or role play
After 5 years
Children can play games with specific rules
Children can anticipate actions of others
Children can outmaneuver other players
The ”I” in me:
“I”

Mead says a person first individualizes significant others: • The unsocialized, spontaneous, self-interested component of
personality.
• Mom • Very large role in children
• Dad
• Sister “Me”
• Brother • The part of our self that is aware of the expectations and
As we grow older: attitudes of society.
• Very large role in adults
• People internalize attitudes, expectations, and viewpoints of
society. Research Close – up: On Being Nervous About Looking Nervous:
• Generalized other. Examples of interplay between our sense of self and our social
Three Stages of Role Taking: world:

Children develop skills that are necessary in order to role-take • Social surroundings affect our self-awareness
through social interaction. • Self-interest colors our social judgment
Self-serving bias:
1 month – 3 years
• We attribute favorable outcomes to internal causes (self)
Children lack sense of self.
• We attribute unfavorable outcomes to external causes
Therefore, they can only imitate the action of others.
• Self-concern motivates our social behavior
• We monitor our own and others’ behavior (Snyder)
• Social relationships help define our self
• Could mindful meditation help?
Self – Concept: Who Am I? Social Comparisons:

• A person’s answers to the question, “Who am I?” • We compare ourselves with others and consider how we differ
• Take time to answer this question… …Via Social Comparison theory (Festinger, ‘54)
• Are your answers more relational (collectivist) or about self • We tend to compare upward
(individualist)? • Who is your referent group?
• Which brain hemisphere helps you to recognize yourself? • Can diminish satisfaction
(Decety & Sommerville, 2003) Right? Left?
At The Center of Our Worlds: Our Sense of Self: Success and Failure:
Schema • Our daily experiences cause us to have empowerment or low
self-esteem
• Mental templates by which we organize our worlds)
• Remember Self-esteem <-> Competence?
• We bolster our self-schema by remembering things better that
are consistent with it. (Kilstrom & Cantor, ’84)
Other People’s Judgments:
Self-schema
• Looking-glass self (Cooley, 1902 –sociologist)
• Beliefs about self that organize and guide the processing of
• How we think others perceive us is a mirror for perceiving
self-relevant information.
ourselves
Development of the Social Self:
Self and Culture:
What Determines Our Self-Concept?
Individualism
✓ Roles we play
Concept of giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals
✓ Social identities we form
and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather
✓ Comparisons we make with others
than group identifications
✓ How other people judge us
✓ Surrounding culture Independent self
Western cultures – tend towards self-inflation (cf to Japanese)
The Roles We Play:
- Is Pride a deadly sin?
• New roles begin as playacting then become reality Collectivism
As we play them we begin to believe them (self perception
Giving priority to the goals of one’s group and defining one’s
theory, (D. Bem) identity accordingly
Interdependent self
Asian, African, and Central and South American cultures
Thought ? Can you think of groupings other than just national Cultural Conceptions of Self
cultures?
• Influence of Cultural Orientation on Self
• Individualistic cultures: People strive for personal
Culture and Cognition achievement.
• Richard Nisbett’s The Geography of Thought (2003) • Collectivistic cultures: People derive more satisfaction from
the status of the valued group.
• Contends that collectivism results in different ways of thinking
• Asians tend to think more in relationships than Americans What’s Your Preference? Similarity or Uniqueness:
• Americans see choices as expressions of themselves.
▪ Which focus more on the focal object/background?
▪ Japanese / Americans?
▪ What does this tell us?

Culture and Self-Esteem

• In collectivist cultures
• Self-concept is context-specific rather than stable
• Conflict takes place between groups
• Persist more when failing
• In individualistic cultures
▪ Self-esteem is more personal and less relational
▪ Persist more when winning
▪ Conflict takes place between individuals
Crime
Divorce
• In your opinion, which culture is ‘better’?
Cultural Influences on the Self – Concept

• Self-concept is also influenced by cultural factors.

• Contrasting cultural orientations:
• Individualism: One’s culture values the virtues of
independence, autonomy, and self-reliance.
Collectivism: One’s culture values the virtues of
interdependence, cooperation, and social harmony.
Not Independent Atoms
You should be taught that you are not independent atoms. Each
one is a thread which is to unite with other threads in composing
a fabric.
Testimonies for the Church 6:172 (1900)