What can psychology teach us about sex? How do different bodies and brains respond sexually? How can we prevent people being stigmatised for their sexuality? The Psychology of Sex takes you on a tour through the different ways that psychologists have created and sustained certain understandings of sex and sexuality. Bearing in mind the subjective nature of sex, the book explores cultural concerns around sexualisation, pornography, and sex addiction, as well as drawing on research from sexual communities and the applied area of sex therapy. When so much of our relationship to sex happens in the mind, The Psychology of Sex shows us how important it is to understand where our ideas about sex come from.

Meeting the needs of gender science today, The Psychology of Sex and Gender provides students with balanced coverage of men and women that is grounded in psychological science. The dynamic author team of Jennifer K. Bosson, Camille E. Buckner, and Joseph A. Vandello paints a complete, vibrant picture of the field through the presentation of classic and cutting-edge research, historical contexts, examples from pop culture, cross-cultural universality and variation, and coverage of nonbinary identities. In keeping with the growing scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL), the text encourages students to identify and evaluate their own myths and misconceptions, participate in real-world debates, and pause to think critically along the way. The thoroughly revised Second Edition integrates an expanded focus on diversity and inclusion, enhances pedagogy based on SOTL, and provides the most up-to-date scientific findings in the field.

This edition contains three studies which seem to me to be necessary prolegomena to that analysis of the sexual instinct which must form the chief part of an investigation into the psychology of sex. The first sketches the main outlines of a complex emotional state which is of fundamental importance in sexual psychology; the second, by bringing together evidence from widely different regions, suggests a tentative explanation of facts that are still imperfectly known; the third attempts to show that even in fields where we assume our knowledge to be adequate a broader view of the phenomena teaches us to suspend judgment and to adopt a more cautious attitude. So far as they go, these studies are complete in themselves; their special use, as an introduction to a more comprehensive analysis of sexual phenomena, is that they bring before us, under varying aspects, a characteristic which, though often ignored, is of the first importance in obtaining a clear understanding of the facts: the tendency of the sexual impulse to appear in a spontaneous and to some extent periodic manner, affecting women differently from men. This is a tendency which, later, I hope to make still more apparent, for it has practical and social, as well as psychological, implications. Here—and more especially in the study of those spontaneous solitary manifestations which I call auto-erotic—I have attempted to clear the ground, and to indicate the main lines along which the progress of our knowledge in these fields may best be attained.

This is a new release of the original 1945 edition.

Psychology of Sex, 12th Impression covers the psycho-physical processes of sex, their liability to disturbance, or their hygiene. This scientific inquiry of sex is the representation of experimentally demonstrable data with the aid of mathematical symbolism. This book is composed of eight chapters that focus on the normal phenomena of sex. After a short introduction to the fundamentals of sexual psychology, this book goes on discussing the physical basis of courtship and sex. The subsequent chapters describe the nature of sexual impulse, particularly in youth, factors contributing to sexual deviation, erotism, and sexual inversion. These topics are followed by examining various sex-related issue in marriage, including sexual abstinence, sexual satisfaction, impotence, and frigidity. The last chapters deal with the dynamic nature of sexual impulse in relation to love. This book will prove useful to psychologists, psychiatrists, parents, and the general public who are interested in the biological nature of sex.

New edition of an authoritative guide to human sexual behavior from a biopsychosocial perspective The thoroughly revised and updated second edition of The Psychology of Human Sexuality explores the roles that biology, psychology, and the social and cultural context play in shaping human sexual behavior. The author – a noted authority on the topic and an affiliate of the acclaimed Kinsey Institute - puts the spotlight on the most recent research and theory on human sexuality, with an emphasis on psychology. The text presents the major theoretical perspectives on human sexuality, and details the vast diversity of sexual attitudes and behaviors that exist in the modern world. The author also reviews the history of sexology and explores its unique methods and ethical considerations. Overall, this important and comprehensive text provides readers with a better understanding of, and appreciation for, the science of sex and the amazing complexity of human sexuality. Features broad coverage of topics including anatomy, gender and sexual orientation, sexual behaviors, sexual difficulties and solutions, prostitution, and pornography Offers more in-depth treatment of relationships than comparable texts, with separate chapters dealing with attraction and relationship processes Includes cutting-edge research on the origins of sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as new treatments for sexually transmitted infections and sexual dysfunctions Is written from a sex-positive perspective, with expanded coverage of cross-cultural research throughout and material that is inclusive and respectful of a diverse audience Includes numerous activities to facilitate dynamic, interactive classroom environments Written for students of human sexuality and anyone interested in the topic, The Psychology of Human Sexuality offers a guide to the psychology of human sexual behavior that is at once inclusive, thorough, and authoritative in its approach.

Providing a comprehensive framework for the broad subject of human sexuality, this two-volume set offers a context of historical development, scientific discovery, and sociopolitical and sociocultural movements. The broad topic of sex—encompassing subjects as varied as sexuality, sexual and gender identity, abortion, and such crimes as sexual assault—is one of the most controversial in American society today. This two-volume encyclopedic set provides readers with more than 450 entries on the subject, offering a comprehensive overview of major sexuality issues in American and global culture. Themes that run throughout the volumes include sexual health and reproduction, sexual identity and orientation, sexual behaviors and expression, the history of sex and sexology, and sex and society. Entries cover a breadth of subjects, such as the major contributors to the field of sexology; the biological, psychological, and cultural dimensions of sex and sexuality; and how the modern-day political climate and the government play a major role in determining attitudes and beliefs about sex. Written in clear, jargon-free language, this set is ideal for students as well as general readers.

A Stanford University Press classic.