Human Sexual Behavior
Human sexual behavior is defined as any activity-solitary, between two persons, or in a
group-that induces sexual arousal (Gebhard, P.H. 2017). There are two major factors
that determine human sexual behavior: the inherited sexual response patterns that have
evolved as a means of ensuring reproduction and that become part of each individual's
genetic inheritance, and the degree of restraint or other types of influence exerted on
the individual by society in the expression of his sexuality.
Types of Behavior
The various types of human sexual behavior are usually classified according to the
gender and number of participants. There is solitary behavior involving only one
individual, and there is sociosexual behavior involving more than one person.
Sociosexual behavior is generally divided into heterosexual behavior (male with female)
and homosexual behavior (male with male or female with female). If three or more
individuals are involved, it is, possible to have heterosexual and homosexual activity
simultaneously (Gebhard, P.Η. 2017).
1. Solitary Behavior
Self-gratification means self-stimulation that leads to sexual arousal and generally,
sexual climax. Usually, most self-gratification takes place in private as an end in itself,
but can also be done in a sociosexual relationship.
Self-gratification, generally beginning at or before puberty, is very common among
young males, but becomes less frequent or is abandoned when sociosexual activity is
available. Consequently, self-gratification is most frequent among the unmarried. There
are more males who perform acts of self-gratification than females. The frequency
greatly varies among individuals and it usually decreases as soon as they develop
sociosexual relationships.
Majority of males and females have fantasies of some sociosexual activity while they
gratify themselves. The fantasy frequently involves idealized sexual partners and
activities that the individual has not experienced and even might avoid in real life.
Nowadays, humans are frequently being exposed to sexual stimuli especially from
advertising and social media. Some adolescents become aggressive when they
respond to such stimuli. The rate of teenage pregnancy is increasing in our time. The
challenge is to develop self-control in order to balance suppression and free expression.
Adolescents need to control their sexual response in order to prevent premarital sex
and acquire sexually transmitted diseases.
2. Sociosexual Behavior
Heterosexual behavior is the greatest amount of sociosexual behavior that occurs
between only one male and one female. It usually begins in childhood and may be
motivated by curiosity, such as showing or examining genitalia. There is varying degree
of sexual impulse and responsiveness among children. Physical contact involving
necking or petting is considered as an ingredient of the learning process and eventually
of courtship and the selection of a marriage partner.
Petting differs from hugging, kissing, and generalized caresses of the clothed body to
practice involving stimulation of the genitals. Petting may be done as an expression of
affection and a source of pleasure, preliminary to coitus. Petting has been regarded by
others as a near-universal human experience and is important not only in selecting the
partner but as a way of learning how to interact with another person sexually.
Coitus, the insertion of the male reproductive structure into the female reproductive
organ, is viewed by society quite differently depending upon the marital status of the
individuals. Majority of human societies allow premarital coitus, at least under certain
circumstances. In modern Western society, premarital coitus is more likely to be
tolerated but not encouraged if the individuals intend marriage. Moreover, in most
societies, marital coitus is considered as an obligation. Extramarital coitus involving
wives is generally condemned and, if permitted, is allowed only under exceptional
conditions or with specified persons. Societies are becoming more considerate toward
males than females who engage in extramarital coitus. This double standard of morality
is also evident in premarital life. Postmarital coitus (i.e., coitus by separated, divorced or
widowed persons) is almost always ignored. There is a difficulty in enforcing abstinence
among sexually experienced and usually older people for societies that try to confine
coitus in married couples.
A behavior may be interpreted by society or the individual as erotic (l.e., capable of
engendering sexual response) depending on the context in which the behavior occurs.
For instance, a kiss may be interpreted as a gesture of expression or intimacy between
couples while others may interpret is as a form of respect or reverence, like when
kissing the hand of an elder or someone in authority. Examination and touching
someone's genitalia is not interpreted as a sexual act especially when done for medical
purposes. Consequently, the apparent motivation of the behavior greatly determines its
interpretation.
Physiology of Human Sexual Response
Sexual response follows a pattern of sequential stages or phases when sexual activity
is continued.
1. Excitement phase - it is caused by increase in pulse and blood pressure: a sudden
rise in blood supply to the surface of the body resulting in increased skin temperature,
flushing, and swelling of all distensible body parts (particularly noticeable in the male
reproductive structure and female breasts), more rapid breathing, the secretion of
genital fluids, vaginal expansion, and a general increase in muscle tension. These
symptoms of arousal eventually increase to a near maximal physiological level that
leads to the next stage.
2. Plateau phase - it is generally of brief duration. If stimulation is continued. orgasm
usually occurs.
3. Sexual climax - it is marked by a feeling of abrupt, intense pleasure, a rapid increase
in pulse rate and blood pressure, and spasms of the pelvic muscles causing
contractions of the female reproductive organ and ejaculation by the male. It is also
characterized by involuntary vocalizations. Sexual climax may last for a few seconds
(normally not over ten), after which the individual enters the resolution phase.
4. Resolution phase - it is the last stage that refers to the return to a normal or
subnormal physiologic state, Males and females are similar in their response sequence,
Whereas males return to normal even if stimulation continues, but continued stimulation
can produce additional orgasms in females, Females are physically capable of repeated
orgasms without the intervening "rest period" required by males.
Nervous System Factors
The entire nervous system plays a significant role during sexual response. The
autonomic system is involved in controlling the involuntary responses. In the presence
of a stimulus capable enough of initiating a sexual response, the efferent cerebrospinal
nerves transmit the sensory messages to the brain. The brain will interpret the sensory
message and dictate what will be the immediate and appropriate response of the body.
After interpretation and integration of sensory input, the efferent cerebrospinal nerves
receive commands from the brain and send them to the muscles; and the spinal cord
serves as a great transmission cable. The muscles contract in response to the signal
coming from the motor nerve fibers while glands secrete their respective products.
Hence, sexual response is dependent on the activity of the nervous system.
The hypothalamus and the limbic system are the parts of the brain believed to be
responsible for regulating the sexual response, but there is no specialized "sex center"
that has been located in the human brain. Animal experiments show that each individual
has coded in its brain two sexual response patterns, one for mounting (masculine)
behavior and one for mounted (feminine) behavior. Sex hormones can intensify the
mounting behavior of individuals. Normally, one response pattern is dominant and the
other latent can still be initiated when suitable circumstances occur. The degree to
which such innate patterning exists in humans is still unknown.
Apart from brain-controlled sexual responses, there is some reflex (i.e., not brain-
controlled) sexual response. This reflex is mediated by the lower spinal cord and leads
to erection and ejaculation for male, vaginal discharges and lubrication for female when
the genital and perineal areas are stimulated. But still, the brain can overrule and
suppress such reflex activity-as it does when an individual decides that a sexual
response is socially inappropriate.
