Asexuality is defined as a unique sexual orientation characterized by a lack of sexual attraction to others. This has been challenged, with some experts positing that it is better explained as a ...sexual dysfunction. Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder (SIAD) is characterized by absent/reduced sexual interest/arousal paired with personal distress, with two subtypes: acquired and lifelong. Research suggests that while asexuality and acquired SIAD are distinct entities, there may be overlap between asexuality and lifelong SIAD. Findings from studies using eye-tracking and implicit association tasks suggest that these methodologies might differentiate these groups on the basis of their neural mechanisms. However, no study has compared their cognitive processing of sexual cues, and the literature on lifelong SIAD is minimal. The current study tested differences in the cognitive processing of sexual cues between asexual individuals and women with SIAD (lifelong and acquired). Forty-two asexual individuals and 25 heterosexual women with SIAD (16: acquired; 9: lifelong) completed three study components: a visual attention task, a Single Category-Implicit Association Task, and the sex semantic differential. ANOVAs examined group differences in: 1) visual attention to erotic cues, 2) implicit appraisals of sexual words, and 3) explicit appraisals of sex. Women with SIAD displayed a controlled attention preference for erotic images and areas of sexual contact, with longer dwell times to these areas relative to asexual individuals, who did not gaze preferentially at erotic cues. For implicit appraisals, all groups demonstrated negative-neutral implicit associations with sexual words. For explicit appraisals, women with acquired SIAD reported more positive evaluations of sex relative to asexual individuals and women with lifelong SIAD. This project sheds light on key differences between asexuality and low desire, and has implications for best clinical practice guidelines for the assessment of lifelong SIAD.
Neurohormonal theory argues that organizational effects of hormone exposure influence sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as sex differences in visuospatial cognition. This study examined ...mental rotation task (MRT) performance in a diverse Thai sample (N = 980). Thai culture has several third genders: individuals assigned male at birth (AMAB) who are feminine and attracted to cis men (i.e., sao praphet song); individuals assigned female at birth (AFAB) who are masculine and attracted to feminine individuals (i.e., toms); AFAB individuals who are feminine and attracted to toms (i.e., dees); and sexual orientation categories similar to Western culture (e.g., gay, lesbian, bi). On the MRT, straight cis men outperformed straight cis women. Results were consistent with organizational effects among AMAB individuals, with straight cis men outperforming gay cis men and sao praphet song. Among AFAB individuals, however, only bi and lesbian cis women outperformed dees. Overall, support for neurohormonal theory was limited among AFAB individuals, but MRT performance among AMAB individuals was consistent with organizational effects. This study informs our understanding of visuospatial sex/gender differences and the applicability of neurohormonal theory across cultures.
•Visuospatial sex difference favoring cis men replicated in Thai population.•Visuospatial organizational effect evident in Thai gay men and sao praphet song.•Limited effect of sexual or gender diversity in participants assigned female at birth.
Children’s bias in appraisals of gender-variant peers Nabbijohn, A. Natisha; MacMullin, Laura N.; Kwan, Karen Man Wa ...
Journal of experimental child psychology,
August 2020, 2020-08-00, 20200801, Letnik:
196
Journal Article
Recenzirano
•Children prefer same-gender peers and/or peers with same-gender-typed traits.•Children rate gender-variant peers as less happy than gender-conforming peers.•8- to 9-year-olds rate gender-variant ...boys as less popular than 4- to 5-year-olds.•Canadian children show less bias toward gender-variant peers than Hong Kong children.
Past research suggests that children have biased negative appraisals of gender-variant (GV) peers (i.e., peers who display behaviors/interests that do not align with gender stereotypes). In the current study, Canadian cisgender 4- and 5-year-olds and 8- and 9-year-olds (N = 183; 48.6% girls), who were ethnically diverse (36% White European heritage) and from mostly middle- to upper-income families, viewed vignettes depicting boys and girls as either gender-conforming (GC) or GV. Multiple measures gauged children’s appraisals in various domains (i.e., friendship/social preference, popularity, happiness, imitation, and moral judgment). Children’s bias against GV peers was modest. Children preferred peers who presented as the same gender and/or with same-gender-typed behaviors/interests. Compared with GC peers, GV peers were rated as less happy, and older children rated a GV boy as less popular. When juxtaposed with a previous study of Hong Kong children that used the same study design, there were several parallels in the patterns observed, but Canadian children had a weaker and less consistent pattern of bias against GV peers than children from Hong Kong. In addition, children from these two cultures showed discrepant patterns for certain aspects of appraisals (e.g., happiness, moral judgment). Overall, these findings inform age-, gender-, and cultural-related influences on children’s appraisals of GV peers.
No study to date has simultaneously tested how poor peer relations, generic risk factors, and parental attitudes impact the behavioral and emotional challenges of children who vary in their gender ...expression. In a community sample, the present study investigated various hypothesized psychosocial and generic risk factors regarding the association between childhood gender nonconformity (GNC) and psychological well-being. Canadian parents/guardians reported on their children aged 6–12 years (
N
= 1719, 48.8% assigned male at birth) regarding their child’s GNC, measured by the Gender Identity Questionnaire for Children; behavioral and emotional challenges, measured by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL); and peer relations, measured by the CBCL and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. Parent/guardian gender-stereotypical attitudes toward child-rearing were assessed using an adapted version of the Child-Rearing Sex Role Attitude Scale, and attachment between the parent/guardian and child was measured with an adapted version of the Child-Rearing Practices Report. Based on regression analyses, GNC was related to elevated behavioral and emotional challenges, and this association was stronger for those who experienced poor peer relations as well as for those whose parents/guardians endorsed gender-stereotyped attitudes and were less willing to serve as a secure base for the child. Recommendations are provided for ways in which social environments can be altered to improve psychological well-being among gender-nonconforming children.
refers to sexual attraction toward adult males. Androphilic males' female genetic relatives might offset the fitness cost of androphilia by having elevated numbers of offspring. Increased ...attractiveness relative to other women may enable these females to marry up the social hierarchy, providing greater access to resources to support more offspring. In Thailand, there is a marked status hierarchy and male androphiles are highly visible - identifying as gay men or as a third gender known as
. Thus, a field experiment was conducted in which 208 heterosexual men rated the facial attractiveness of 25 sisters of Thai gay men or
and 25 comparison women with no known same-sex attracted relatives. Contrary to the prediction, the comparison group was rated as more attractive than the sisters, casting doubt on hypotheses that posit greater attractiveness of female relatives of male androphiles as a proximate mechanism facilitating the evolutionary maintenance of genes influencing male androphilia. Also, men from rural areas rated the women, regardless of group, as more attractive than men from urban areas, consistent with some prior studies showing rural-urban differences in perceptions of attractiveness.
Gender differences in appraisals of first intercourse are among the largest in sexuality research, with women indicating less satisfying “sexual debuts” than men. Dispositional or “actor-level” ...explanations for this gender gap are pervasive, yet research has largely examined heterosexual debuts in which actor gender and partner gender are confounded. We assessed whether women’s less satisfying sexual debuts are better explained by actor gender or partner gender, comparing experiences of women who debuted with men (WDM) with those of men and women who debuted with women (MDW, WDW). Retrospective accounts of sexual debut were collected from 3033 adults. At first intercourse, we found that WDW had equal physical and emotional satisfaction to MDW, and more satisfaction than WDM, suggesting satisfaction gaps owing to partner gender, not actor gender. This pattern did not extend to a comparison event (first masturbation), where WDW and WDM had similar satisfaction, but less satisfaction than MDW, suggesting an actor gender gap. To identify sources of satisfaction gaps, we probed for corresponding differences in the circumstances of sexual debut. Sexual circumstances were more strongly implicated than nonsexual ones, with relative deprivation of glans stimulation explaining relative dissatisfaction at first intercourse, but not first masturbation, and orgasm explaining it at both. Findings challenge the view that the satisfaction gap at first intercourse reflects an inherent difference between genders. Indeed, they demonstrate similarities when partner gender does not differ and suggest strategies for ensuring equal sexual satisfaction—and equal sexual rights realization—at (hetero) sexual debut.
•We examined sex differences in mental rotation, controlling for hormonal milieu.•Females in low-estradiol cycle phases/hormone treatments did not differ from males.•Low-estradiol females also ...outperformed those in high-estradiol cycle phases.•Results were specific to mental rotation and not seen on a sex-neutral verbal task.•Modulation of mental rotation capacity by hormonal milieu, not sex, is discussed.
Sex differences in visuospatial cognition have long been reported, with men being advantaged on the Mental Rotations Test (MRT). The data, however, are variable, and sensitive to design parameters. When men and women are compared directly, with women in different hormonal milieus combined, there seem to be sex differences. When women alone are studied, taking into account different ovarian steroid concentrations and treatments, MRT performance varies with these changes. Indeed, several reports describe better performance among women with reduced estrogens. To better understand whether the sex difference in MRT persists once hormonal status is considered, we recruited reproductive age adults designated male and female at birth (MAB, FAB), and administered the Vandenberg-Kuse (V/K) MRT—comparing performance among MAB (n = 169) and FAB (n = 219). For FAB combined, we found a sex difference with MAB performing better than FAB. However, when FAB were analyzed by current menstrual cycle phase (Early Follicular (EF), Periovulatory (PO), Midluteal (ML)) or by hormone therapy (transmasculine testosterone administration (TM+), oral contraceptive (OC) ingestion prior to (OC+) or after cognitive testing (OC-)), low-estradiol groups (EF, OC-, TM+) performed as strongly as MAB, and had better MRT than cycling FAB in high-estradiol menstrual cycle phases (PO, ML). On a verbal memory control task, neither a sex difference nor a low estrogen advantage was detected, although performance varied with hormonal milieu. Our findings support a dynamic model of spatial performance and suggest that both MAB and FAB perform strongly on MRT, contingent on hormonal status.
Children display intergroup bias in relation to gender. The present study examined whether children’s self‐perceived same‐ and other‐gender similarity were related to their same‐ and other‐gender ...positivity and negativity, respectively. Children aged 6–10 years (N = 149) were interviewed about their self‐perceived similarity to girls and to boys and about the extent to which they thought positive and negative characteristics applied to boys and to girls. Among girls, greater self‐perceived other‐gender similarity was associated with more negativity towards the same gender. Similar to previous research, intergroup gender bias was more pronounced among girls, and children rated themselves as having more same‐ than other‐gender similarity, with this pattern being more pronounced in boys. Thus, this study provides evidence suggesting that other‐gender similarity is related to girls’ negative attributions towards girls. It also replicates previous findings regarding gender differences in children’s intergroup gender bias and gender similarity, respectively.
In clinical child and retrospective adult samples, childhood gender variance (GV; i.e., cross-gender behaviour) has been associated with separation anxiety (SA; i.e., distress related to separation ...from attachment figures) in males. This study examined GV and SA in a nonclinical sample of 892 boys and 933 girls aged 6–12 years via parent-reports. Parental factors (i.e., parenting style, parent–child relationship, willingness to serve as an attachment figure, attitudes towards gender stereotypes in children) were examined as potential moderators. GV predicted SA in boys, even when statistically controlling for general psychopathology and demographic variables. Authoritative parenting, closeness in the parent–child relationship, willingness to serve as an attachment figure, and liberal attitudes towards gender stereotypes in children moderated the association between GV and SA in both boys and girls. Thus, SA may be a unique internalizing problem related to GV in boys in nonclinical samples and influenced by a variety of parental factors.
Past research has linked poor psychosocial adjustment among children who express gender nonconformity (GNC) to poor peer relations (e.g., facing ridicule and rejection); however, very little research ...has explored whether it is possible to improve children’s appraisals of GNC. The present study attempted to replicate a previous intervention that was conducted among 8- to 9-year-old children from Hong Kong that successfully improved children’s appraisals of gender-nonconforming peers. Specifically, it tested whether the same intervention was successful at improving appraisals of gender-nonconforming peers in a sample of children from Canada and among both 4- to 5-year-old and 8- to 9-year-old children. To do so, we employed an experimental vignette design among 4- to 5-year-old ( n = 176; 48% girls) and 8- to 9-year-old ( n = 182; 49% girls) children. In the intervention condition, targets were presented who displayed mostly gender-nonconforming preferences, some gender-conforming preferences, and positive attributes. Following the intervention, participants’ appraisals of gender-nonconforming and gender-conforming targets were assessed through verbal reports, a sharing task, and a rank-order task. Overall, the intervention did not improve appraisals of GNC, and there were no differences based on age or gender of the participants, or gender of the targets. We discuss possible reasons why there was a cultural difference in the effectiveness of the intervention and how future intervention work in this area might be strengthened.
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