SEXUAL BEHAVIORS

Presented by
Rebecca F. Mindal
Roselyn A. Caja
Ricky B. Osman
 Learning Objective

-Discuss the variety of sexual behaviors in humans.

-Discuss the diversity of human sexual expression.
 Introduction

Sexual Behavior Sexual responses are controlled by a

complex and coordinated interplay of both the somatic
and the autonomic nervous system in multiple
components of the brain, spinal cord, and relevant
peripheral organs.
 Sexual Behavior

(Human) Sexual behavior refers to a broad spectrum of behaviors

in which humans display their sexuality. This behavioral expression
contains both biological elements and cultural influences and
involves sexual arousal (with its physiological changes, both
pronounced and subtle, in the aroused person). Sexual behavior
ranges from the solitary (such as masturbation and autoerotic
stimulation) to partnered sex (intercourse, oral sex, non-
penetrative sex, etc.) that is engaged in periodically. Sexual
behavior can also involve behavior that is aimed at arousing desire
in potential partners (courtship displays or rituals) or behavior
aimed at enhancing sexual experiences (foreplay, BDSM, etc.).
Both typical and a typical sexual behavior can best be
understood in terms of development studies. Bothe
nature and nurture are needed to explain the entire
range of human sexual behavior. Sexual behavior
begins before puberty, but the advent of puberty brings
a greater interest in sex and gender range of sexual
exploration than see in childhood.
 Puberty and Later

The interactions of nature and nurture are especially

conspicuous during puberty, because of pubertal
hormonal changes, both the sexual organs and
secondary sex traits undergo the adolescent changes.
 Six basic sex differences

During puberty, both boys and girls begin to have increasing numbers of
experiences with spontaneous sexual responses and nocturnal orgasms,
but there are several major sex differences in these hormonally induced
changes. First, pubertal boys begin to have spontaneous sexual arousal 2-3
years before girls do. Second, pubertal sexual arousal is more noticeable
and distracting for boys than girls. Third, boys are significantly more likely
to experience spontaneous nocturnal orgasms than are girls. These
orgasms are often associated with sexual dreams, and this strengthens the
pavlovian conditioning that links erotic images with sexual feelings,
especially for boys. Fourth, boys experience nocturnal orgasms at a
younger age than do girls, giving boys another major head start in sexual
learning.
Adolescence brings about two additional concerns about girls’
sexuality active girls tend to worry more about unintended
pregnancies.

Double standards societal double standards about sexuality

can augment the sex differences seen in fig.
Adolescent girls and adult women are often given the
pejorative labels of being loose or sluts if they have several
sexual partners. In contrast, adolescent boys and adult men
often do not feel bad if they have numerous sexual partners
and might even be labeled as studs
Recent trends between the onset of the sexual revolution and
the early 1990s, there was an increase in adolescents sexual
behavior, teen pregnancies, and teen abortions. There has
been a decline in the number of teens who have engaged in
sexual intercourse, had pregnancies, and sexual abortion.
 Summary

Sexual behavior

From a bio evolutionary perspective, sexual behavior

functions primarily to assure reproduction, and human
evolution, sexual activity was closely related to
pregnancy and childbearing. Through evolutionary
processes, numerous physiological structures have
emerged that usually make Sexual behavior pleasurable.
The thoughts, emotions, and physiological responses involved in
sexual behavior are mediated by brain and spinal cord. The limbic
system, which encircles upper end of spinal cord below the cortical
hemispheres in brain and the stimulation of limbic system, can
produce sexual arousal. The cerebral system processes memory,
fantasy, language, and thinking, has multiple connections with the
limbic system and plays multiple roles in sexual behavior.
Before the development of modern contraceptive techniques,
sexual behavior was closely linked with reproduction in most
society. People unlink sex from pregnancy by using positions,
magic incantations, and peccaries (invention worn in vagina).
In last four decades, the development of increasingly effective
contraception and abortion techniques has allowed to avoid
“procreational sex” and recreational sex”.
The evidence shows that gonalda sterios hormones play a
powerful role in facilitating sexual behaviors in human. Males
require the presence of testosterone and estrogen, whereas
female require estrogen plus progesterone. The medial
preoptic area and the ventral hypothalamus are the primary
brain regions involved in modulating sexual behavior.
End of Slide