Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

Prologue
 Trapped in a Male’s Body 
The images are iconic TV moments: precious little 
Chastity Bono, with her blonde hair and chubby 
cheeks, gracing her parents’ 1970s variety show 
The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour
with a family 
song or the sweet sign-off , “Goodnight every-
body and God bless!” While girls at home may 
have been envious of Cher’s glittery outfi ts, 
Chastity, who always wore costumes to complement 
either that of her Mom’s and Dad’s, later admitted, “I especially 
liked it when they put me in clothes that matched my father’s.” 
In fact, when Chastity came out as a lesbian to
The Advocate
in 
1995, she said, “As a kid I thought I was a little 
boy.” (Bartolomeo et al., 2009, p. 54) 
Chastity Bono never actually stopped 
thinking of herself as male. In spring 2009, 
at the age of 40, Chastity announced to 
the world that she was transitioning from 
female to male and would henceforth be 
known as Chaz. 

Looking
Ahead 

Chaz’s story illustrates the emotion and confusion that often 
characterize one of the most universal behaviors: sexuality. 
Exemplifying major personal as well as societal concerns, sex 
and the interrelated topic of gender are also key topics for 
psychologists in a variety of specialties. For instance, psychologists 
interested in motivation view sexuality in terms of sexual needs, 
drives, and gratifi cation. Neuroscientists consider sexuality from 
the perspective of the relationship of the brain and nervous 
system to the functioning of the sexual organs. Social psycholo-
gists and psychologists who specialize in the study of women 
focus on society’s rules of sexual conduct and the role sexual 
behavior plays in interpersonal behavior. 
In this set of modules, we consider human sexuality from 
several of these vantage points. We begin by examining gender 
and discussing diff erences in societal expectations about how 
men and women should behave and the impact of those 
expectations on behavior and attitudes. Next we turn to sexual 
behavior. We describe the biological aspects of sexual excitement 
and arousal and then examine the variety of sexual activities in 
which people engage. We conclude with a discussion of non-
consenting sex, sexually transmitted infections, and the psycho-
logical aspects of sexual diffi
culties.
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 PROLOGUE
Each chapter starts with an 
account of a real-life situation that demon-
strates the relevance of basic principles and 
concepts of psychology to pertinent issues 
and problems. These prologues depict well-
known people and events.
 LOOKING AHEAD 
The Prologue situation is then tied to key 
themes and issues discussed in the subse-
quent modules.
Preface 
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