Explore Your Understanding of Human Sexuality

Understanding the Sexual Self, Human Sexual Response, and Biology of Human Sexual Behavior

• The sexual self is an important dimension of self-construction that includes positive and negative concepts and feelings.
• The sexual self-concept has three dimensions: sexual self-esteem, sexual depression, and sexual preoccupation.
• Attachment styles shape our sexual self-concept and influence our patterns of behavior in intimate relationships.
• The sexual response cycle consists of four phases: desire, arousal, orgasm, and resolution.
• During the desire phase, muscle tension increases, heart rate quickens, and skin may become flushed.
• The arousal phase intensifies the changes from the desire phase.
• The orgasm phase is the climax of the sexual response cycle and lasts only a few seconds.
• During the resolution phase, the body returns to its normal level of functioning and experiences a general sense of well-being and fatigue.
• Women may experience multiple orgasms, while men have a refractory period during which they cannot reach orgasm again.
• The hypothalamus is the most important part of the brain for sexual functioning and produces important sexual hormones.
• Sex hormones that influence sexual behavior include oxytocin, prolactin, vasopressin, FSH, LH, testosterone in males, and estrogen and progesterone in females.
• The biology of human sexual behavior includes the reproductive system, the sexual response cycle, and the neurological and hormonal factors that affect these processes.