Physical Self

■ refers to the body, this marvelous container and complex, finely tuned, machine
with which we interface with our environment and fellow beings. It is the concrete
dimension, the tangible aspect of the person that can be directly observed and
examined.

Body Image
■ It is the perception that a person has of their physical self and the thoughts and
feelings that result from that perception.
■ These feelings can be positive, negative or both and are influenced by individual and
environmental factors.

Self-Esteem
■ It is your opinion of yourself.
■ People with healthy self-esteem like themselves and value their achievements.
While everyone lacks confidence occasionally, people with low self-esteem feel
unhappy or unsatisfied with themselves most of the time.

Beauty
■ A combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic
sense, especially the sight (Oxford English Dictionary)
– Person
– Nature
– Things

Schools of Thought Regarding Beauty:

BEAUTY IS NOT UNIVERSAL
■ Cultural conditioning influences of perception of beauty.
■ Ideas of beauty vary throughout history + across different cultures.
■ Tastes change over time => BEAUTY IS NOT UNIVERSAL
■ Beauty is a subjective concept

BEAUTY IS UNIVERSAL
■ Globalization leads to universal idea of beauty
■ “Maybe the blue landscape is genetically imprinted in us… We now completed polls
in many countries – China, Kenya, Iceland, and so on – the results are strikingly similar.
Can you believe it? Kenya and Iceland – what can be different in the whole fucking
world – and both want blue landscapes… the blue landscapes is what is really
universal, maybe to all mankind”. – Komar & Melamid, 1993
Sexual Self – Concept
- Defined as an individual’s evaluation of his or her own sexual feelings and actions.
- refers to the totality of oneself as a sexual being, including positive and negative
concepts and feelings.

Features of Sexuality
1. Sensuality – awareness and acceptance of our own body
2. Intimacy – experiencing emotional closeness to another
3. Sexual Identity – process of discovering who we are in terms of sexuality
4. Reproduction – values, attitudes, & behaviors relating to reproduction
5. Sexualization – use of sexuality to influence, control or manipulate
Attraction
• is any force that draws people together.
• Social psychologists have traditionally used the term attraction to refer to the
affinity that draws together friends and romantic partners
Love
• It is any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong
affection and attachment.
• The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes,
ranging from generic pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction
("I love my partner"). This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the
complexity of the feelings involved, makes the concept of love unusually difficult to
consistently define, even compared to other emotional states.
• As an abstract concept, love usually refers to a deep, ineffable feeling of tenderly
caring for another person. Even this limited conception of love, however,
encompasses a wealth of different feelings, from the passionate desire and intimacy
of romantic love to the nonsexual emotional closeness of familial and platonic love to
the profound oneness or devotion of religious love.
• Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and,
owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in
the creative arts.
Triangular theory of love
Psychologist Robert Sternberg suggests that people can have varying degrees of
intimacy, passion, and commitment at any one moment in time, this concept of love is
a triangle that is made up of three components:
• Intimacy, which involves feelings of closeness, connectedness, and bondedness
• Passion, which involves feelings and desires that lead to physical attraction,
romance, and sexual consummation
• Decision/commitment, which involves feelings that lead a person to remain with
someone and move toward shared goals
Types of Love
The three components of love interact in a systemic manner. The presence of a
component of love or a combination of two or more components create seven kinds
of love experiences. These types of love may vary over the course of a relationship as
well.
Friendship - This type of love is when the intimacy or liking component is present, but
feelings of passion or commitment in the romantic sense are missing. Friendship love
can be the root of other forms of love.
Infatuation - Infatuation is characterized by feelings of lust and physical passion
without liking and commitment. There has not been enough time for a deeper sense
of intimacy, romantic love, or consummate love to develop. These may eventually
arise after the infatuation phase. The initial infatuation is often very powerful.
Romantic Love - Romantic love bonds people emotionally through intimacy and
physical passion. Partners in this type of relationship have deep conversations that
help them know intimate details about each other. They enjoy sexual passion and
affection. These couples may be at the point where long-term commitment or future
plans are still undecided.
Companionate Love - Companionate love is an intimate, but non-passionate sort of
love. It includes the intimacy or liking component and the commitment component of
the triangle. It is stronger than friendship, because there is a long-term commitment,
but there is minimal or no sexual desire. This type of love is often found in marriages
where the passion has died, but the couple continues to have deep affection or a
strong bond together. This may also be viewed as the love between very close friends
and family members.
Fatuous Love - In this type of love, commitment and passion are present while
intimacy or liking is absent. Fatuous love is typified by a whirlwind courtship in which
passion motivates a commitment without the stabilizing influence of intimacy. Often,
witnessing this leaves others confused about how the couple could be so impulsive.
Unfortunately, such marriages often don't work out. When they do, many chalks the
success up to luck.
Consummate Love - Consummate love is made up of all three components and is the
total form of love. It represents an ideal relationship. Couples who experience this
kind of love have great sex several years into their relationship. They cannot imagine
themselves with anyone else. They also cannot see themselves truly happy without
their partners. They manage to overcome differences and face stressors together.

Sexual orientation
Is a dynamic spectrum and may change through time.
✓ stay as heterosexual
✓ predominantly heterosexual, occasionally homosexual
✓ bisexual
✓ predominantly homosexual, occasionally heterosexual
✓ always homosexual
✓ They go through a process of discovery, as they are uncertain.

The biology of sexual behavior:

Human sexuality is not just sexual anatomy. It is also characterized by expression (or
suppression of in some cases) of sexual feelings and thoughts into certain actions
either individually or with another sexual being.
SEXUAL BEHAVIOR – refers to what we actually do to experience the fullness or our
sexual body. Biologically, due to erogenous zones - the body parts that are sensitive
to sexual stimulation.
LUST - which is basically characterized by having the urge to experience pleasure
through sexual intimacy with someone is influenced by neurophysiological
mechanisms or certain areas in the brain and the production of hormones like
estrogens and androgens. It is mediated by both the cerebral cortex or the thinking
brain structure and the subcortical
regions, consisting of the emotional part of the brain.
LOVE - seems to be governed by the attraction system in our brain characterized by
an increasedmproduction of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine and
low level of serotonin.
ATTACHMENT - these are usually released after partners experienced fullness of
sexual union(vasopressin), during childbirth and nursing a baby(oxytocin), cuddling,
and other emotionally intimate activities.
These 3 emotion circuits in the brain are intertwined with one another, yet, they could
function differently and independently. HOWEVER, Culture or nurture also interact
with biology to shape
our sexual behavior. Humans developed the capacity to determine inappropriate
sexual behaviors, unhealthy attractions, or destructive attachments—as such we
become more self-determining or self-regulating.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEXUAL RESPONSE
Humans do not automatically engage in a sexual activity upon the presence of a
sexually stimulating condition, nor do they reflexively act on their sexual urges. Our
so-called crowning glory, the thinking part of our brain called the cerebral cortex that
governs for sexual processes, functioning or behavior. (Nevid, et. Al, 1995).
Women engage in sexual activity as a result of emotional intimacy of being in love;
while men are believed to be driven by purely sexual desire at times resulting from
being attracted physically.
(Gender differences when it comes to the motivations behind the sexual response)
(Conaco,et.al,2003). Sexual responses is a way to fulfill more psychological or even
spiritual needs at times. (Diamond,2014).
Courtship
• Burgess et al. (1979) defined courtship as all forms of behavior by which one
seeks to win the consent of another for marriage. This implies that forms of
behavior especially those
involved in the development of love and affection and in all activities of men
and women who are eligible for marriage may be referred to as courtship.
• Courtship is the stage preparatory to marriage. It includes a body of folkways
and mores through which a man and a woman can come to some point of
mutual understanding from which a permanent union may emerge. (Panopio,
Macdonald Raymundo, 1994).
• Courtship is a process of trial and error undertaken by individuals to find out
who best fulfils their love requirements. It is also a complex process of offering
and seeing satisfaction, generally with a calculation of gain vis - a - vis the risk,
and with a concealment of real motives (Kirkpatrick, 1975).
Stages of courtship
1. Dating – dating is a system in which a man and a woman agree to be together
at a designated place and time (Medina, 2001).\
 2. Going Steady – the term going steady refers to the practice of dating one
person exclusively, although it does not necessarily imply the prospect of
marriage.
3. Private Understanding – among the Filipinos, this takes place usually during the
period of going steady when a man openly declares his love and affection for
the woman and his desire to have her for a wife.
4. Engagement – the process of falling in love develops first in private
understanding and later, culminates in public announcement. This relationship
is a direct result of personal interaction and companionship that border private
understanding and engagement.
FALLING IN LOVE
Consensual Validation
• People like to find in others an agreement, or consensus, with their common
characteristics
• Finding this consensus supports or validates, their own way of looking at the
world.
People of all ages tend to have romantic relationships with people who are similar to
them in characteristics such as:
• Intelligence
• Social class
• Ethnic Background
• Religious beliefs
• Physical attractiveness
CULTURAL BELIEF AND ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY
Restrictive Cultures
• Place strong prohibitions on adolescent sexual activity before marriage
• Strict separation of boys and girls in early childhood through adolescence
• Usually more restrictive for girls than boys
Semi-restrictive Cultures
• Have prohibitions but they are not strongly enforced and are easily evaded
• If pregnancy results from premarital sex, adolescents are often forced to
marry
Permissive Cultures
• Encourage and expect adolescent sexuality
INFLUENCES SEXUAL ACTIVITY
Hormones are especially important for boys
 • Testosterone surge sparks initial interest in sex for boy.
• Boys who are more popular with girls and mature earlier tend to initiate sex
earlier than unpopular boys
Context is especially important for girls
• The most important predictor of girl’s involvement in sexual intercourse is
whether their friends are doing it or have sexually permissive attitudes.
PHYSIOLOGY AND SEXUAL RESPONSE
MENSTRUATION:
✓ the cyclical bleeding that stems from the shedding of the uterine lining
✓ humans ~ averages 28 days
✓ regulated by estrogen & progesterone
✓ ovulation may not occur each time
✓ follows ovulation by 14 days (±2)
MENARCHE:
- The onset of menstruation, the first period
- The first few years of menstruation may be anovulatory (no ovulation)
MENOPAUSE:
- the cessation of menstruation
- commonly occurs between the ages of 45 & 50 and lasts 2 years
- estrogen levels drop producing many unpleasant side effects (ex. night sweats, hot
flashes)
DYSMENORRHEA:
- mild to severe pain or discomfort during menstruation
- pelvic cramps, nausea, headaches, backaches, bloating
PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME (PMS):
- symptoms that regularly afflict many women during the four to six days prior to
menstruation each month
- combination physical & psychological ex. anxiety, depression, irritability, weight gain,
abdominal pain
SEX DURING MENSTRUATION:
▪ no evidence that sex during menstruation is physically harmful
▪ many couples continue to engage in sex while others abstain
▪ may be helpful in relieving cramps by dispelling blood congestion

SEXUAL FUNCTIONS
ERECTION:
• the enlargement and stiffening of the penis as a consequence of filling with blood (a
spinal reflex)
• can double in length and become firm in a matter of 10-15 seconds
• bladder closes off during arousal
EJACULATION:
• expulsion of semen from tip of penis
• a spinal reflex triggered when sexual stimulation reaches the threshold
• often, but not always, occurs together with orgasm (subjective sensations)
• occurs in two stages
SEXUAL RESPONSE
APHRODISIAC:
• a substance that arouses or increases one’s capacity for sexual pleasure
• no foods have been shown to be sexually stimulating
• basic fuel of desire = testosterone
PHEROMONES:
• chemical substances secreted externally which are odorless
• detected through a “sixth sense” triggering sexual behavior in many organisms
• contained in vaginal secretions & urine
ORGASM:
• the climax of sexual excitement
• similar physiological response to sexual stimulation for men and women
• described by Kaplan as a three-stage model of sexual response
Three Stages of Orgasm
STAGE 1 ~ DESIRE:
✓ the drive & interest level for sexual activity which arises in the brain
✓ testosterone is the key hormone for desire level in both men & women
✓ strengthened by fantasy & stimulation
STAGE 2 ~ EXCITEMENT:
✓ increased muscle tension, heart rate & blood pressure
✓ women – engorged clitoris, labia & vagina, vaginal lubrication
✓ men – penile erection, enlargement & elevation of testes, Cowper’s secretion
STAGE 3 ~ ORGASM:
✓ involuntary muscle spasms throughout body, mostly in vagina & penis
✓ blood pressure, heart rate & respiration peak
✓ slightly longer duration for females

MASTURBATION
• sexual self-stimulation either manual or with the aid of an artificial device such as a
vibrator
• physically & psychologically harmless
• negative attitudes may be associated
• reasons: relieve sexual tension, for physical pleasure, to relax, partner unavailable, to
get to sleep…
Human Development
• Psychologists today, realize that development is a process that continues from
conception to death.
• The male gamete (XY) is called sperm cell. The female gamete (XX) is called egg cell.
• Heredity is the biological transmission of traits that have evolved from generation to
generation. Genes are the unit carrier of heredity.
• Hereditary the transmission of genes to offspring.
• There are 46 (diploid) chromosomes in every individual.
• Twins
o Identical twins - develop from a single (monozygotic) fertilized egg that splits in
two. Thus they are genetically identical—nature’s own human clones. Indeed, they are
clones who share not only the same genes but the same conception and uterus, and
usually the same birth date and cultural history.
o Fraternal twins develop from separate (dizygotic) fertilized eggs. As womb-mates,
they share a fetal environment, but they are genetically no more similar than ordinary
brothers and sisters.

Life-span development in this contemporary time is referred to as the number of

periods in the life cycle.
o Prenatal period – starts from conception to birth. It is divided into three stages.
▪ Germinal stage – begins at conception, when male sperm unites with female ovum or
egg. A zygote (fertilized egg) is developed. A Blastocyst formation
begins about 5 days after fertilization, when a fluid-filled cavity opens up in the
morula, a ball consisting of a few dozen cells. The early embryo undergoes cell
differentiation and structural changes to become the blastocyst. It is then prepared
for implantation into the uterine wall 6 days after fertilization. Implantation marks the
end of the germinal stage of embryogenesis.
• Blastocyst has 3 layers
1. Endoderm – produces tissue within the lungs, thyroid and pancreas
2. Mesoderm - aids in the production of cardiac muscle, skeletal muscle, smooth
muscle, tissues within the kidneys, and red blood cells.
3. Ectoderm - produces tissues within the epidermis, aids in the formation of neurons
within the brain, and constructs melanocytes
▪ Embryonic stage – begins, lasting until the eight week of conception.
▪ Fetal stage – begins after 8 weeks. The embryo, now called fetus, further\develops
the organs and systems that existed in rudimentary form during the embryonic stage.
o Newborn – Having a baby takes responsibility. Newborns could never survive on
their own. However, they are far from being completely inert and passive. They have a
number of built-in reflexes, automatic behaviors that are very necessary for survival,
such as sucking and grasping.
o Infancy – extends from birth to eighteen to twenty-four months or two years. It is
often referred as babyhood. An infant for the first few days after birth is called
neonate.