Sexual and Romantic Development in Youth
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Sexual and Romantic Development in Youth
This paper explores the effects of oneās context and biology on sexual and romantic development in youth and young adults. I find it perplexing that children mature very differently in terms of their sexuality. This brings to question whether nature or nurture controls oneās sexuality and romantic relationships. Many authors debate over the importance of hormones and biological factors versus environmental factors in relation to sexual development. Despite Freudās notion, parental influence determines a childās sexual development, many instances show that even āhealthyā parenting results in children with unhealthy sex lives. For this reason, authors seek evidence supporting the importance of hormones as an influence on an adolescentās sexual maturation. However, other authors seek support for the importance of contextual influence on a personās sexual development. So, does a childās sexual and romantic development depend on biological or environmental factors or a combination of both?
Environmental Influences on Sexual/Romantic Development
Cyranowski and Andersen (1998), investigate how sexual self-schemas are cognitive generalizations about sexual aspects of the self. Also, these authors explore the importance of early attachment relationships in infants and maturing adolescents to sexual development. These views about sexual aspects of the self (sexual self-schemas), āderive from past experience[s], manifest in current sexual cognition, and guide sexual behaviorā (Cyranowski and Andersen 1).
Attachment patterns first develop within early infant-caregiver relationships; therefore, ādifferences in the nature of and quality of these early interactions may result in the development of alternative āinternal working models,ā or schemas regarding the self and self-other interactionsā (3). The Attachment Theory suggests, oneās earliest cognitive representations are those regarding oneās self and relationships with others, which develop from infancy (15). The quality of these early relationships influences the development of mental models affecting later relationships. In other words, if early caretakers are neglectful or inconsistent, the child may ādevelop schemas of attachment relations as unavailable or inconsistent and may concomitantly develop schemas of the self as unworthy or unlovableā (15). These early relationships are the building blocks on which later personal and interpersonal relationships are based. Sexual self-structures remain closely associated with an individualās early attachment representations, particularly throughout adolescence and early adulthood (17). Throughout adulthood, oneās sexual self-schemas may āinfluence attachment behaviors within romantic-sexual relationships[,] as well as oneās view of the self as a sexually mature adultā (17).
Cyranowski and Andersenās (1998) investigation, completed at Ohio State University, focuses on assessing sexual responses and romantic attachment patterns in women. āThe participants [are] 318 female undergraduate students at the Ohio State Universityā¦[who are given] the Sexual Self-Schema Scale, an unobtrusive measure of sexual cognitionā (4). The women participating in the research, rate 50 adjectives on a āLikert scale ranging from 0 (not at all descriptive of me) to 6 (very much descriptive of me)ā (4). Many different types of evaluations are also given to the participants to test: sexuality behaviors, the sexual response cycle, sexual desire, sexual arousal, sexual anxiety, orgasm/resolution, sexual self-evaluation, romantic attachment measures, relationship history, passionate love, romantic attachment styles, and dyadic satisfaction. The researchers discover a womanās sexual self-perception determines her sexual affects. For example, a woman who holds a positive view of her sexual nature should ādrive positive sexual affectsā (11) and vice versa. A woman who holds a positive view of her sexual-self does not feel compelled to act in any way (sexually) that she does not feel comfortable; therefore, her decision to engage in sexual activities is not a means for her to boost her confidence or feel likeable. On the other hand, women with negative views of themselves tend to use sexuality as a tool to better their self-image; this is when oneās sexuality reaches an unhealthy level. These results, in regards to my question, show internal perceptions of oneās self can determine sexual activity. These perceptions are often guided by society; thus, support the influence of oneās context on sexual development.
This article answers my question about nature vs. nurture in regards to sexual development. In this study, the focus is on the environmental aspect to development. The article supports the idea that