Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

Neuroscience in Your Life:
When 
Brain and Socialization Meet 
Applying Psychology in the 21 st Century:
Trucks and Dolls: Does Fetal Exposure to 
Testosterone Aff ect How Children Play?
 Understanding Human Sexual 
Response: The Facts of Life
The Basic Biology of Sexual Behavior
Psychological Aspects of Sexual 
Excitement: What Turns People On?
The Phases of Sexual Response: 
The Ups and Downs of Sex
Exploring Diversity: 
Female 
Circumcision: A Celebration 
of Culture—or Genital Mutilation?
 The Diversity of Sexual Behavior
Approaches to Sexual Normality
Surveying Sexual Behavior: What’s 
Happening Behind Closed Doors?
Heterosexuality
Homosexuality and Bisexuality
Transsexualism
Sexual Diffi
culties
Becoming an Informed Consumer 
of Psychology:
Lowering 
the Risks of Date Rape
Why, and under what circumstances, do we 
become sexually aroused? 
feL82795_ch11_340-377.indd Page 341 30/07/10 9:52 PM user-f463
feL82795_ch11_340-377.indd Page 341 30/07/10 9:52 PM user-f463
/Volumes/202/MH00543_r1/hin73516_disk1of1/0073373516/Access_Archive/hin73516_...
/Volumes/202/MH00543_r1/hin73516_disk1of1/0073373516/Access_Archive/hin73516_

---

342
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.
feL82795_ch11_340-377.indd Page 342 30/07/10 9:52 PM user-f463
feL82795_ch11_340-377.indd Page 342 30/07/10 9:52 PM user-f463
/Volumes/202/MH00543_r1/hin73516_disk1of1/0073373516/Access_Archive/hin73516_...
/Volumes/202/MH00543_r1/hin73516_disk1of1/0073373516/Access_Archive/hin73516_

---

343
“It’s a girl!” “It’s a boy!” 
One or some variant of these exclamations is typically the fi rst sentence uttered 
upon the birth of a child. However, the consequences of whether we are born with 
male or female sex organs extend well beyond the moment of birth. Throughout our 
lives, the ways that others think of us, and even the ways we view ourselves are based 
to a large extent on whether society labels us as a woman or a man—our gender.