Why Women Have Sex (45 page)

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Authors: Cindy M. Meston,David M. Buss

 

2. T
HE
P
LEASURE OF
I
T

 

30

In a study conducted in the Meston: Levin, R., and Meston, C. M. (2006). “Nipple/Breast Stimulation and Sexual Arousal in Young Men and Women,”
Journal of Sexual Medicine
3:450–54.

33

Certain herbal formulas such as ephedrine: Meston, C. M., and Heiman, J. R. (1998). “Ephedrine-Activated Physiological Sexual Arousal in Women,”
Archives of General Psychiatry
55:652–56.

33

yohimbine plus L-arginine glutamate: Meston, C. M., and Worcel, M. (2002). “The Effects of Yohimbine plus L-Arginine Glutamate on Sexual Arousal in Post-menopausal Women with Sexual Arousal Disorder,”
Archives of Sexual Behavior
31:323–32.

33

ginkgo biloba extract: Meston, C. M., Rellini, A. H., and Telch, M. (2008). “Short-term and Long-term Effects of Ginkgo Biloba Extract on Sexual Dysfunction in Women,”
Archives of Sexual Behavior
37:530–47.

33

For example, a study conducted in the late 1980s: Atwood, J. D., and Gagnon, J. (1987). “Masturbation Practices of Males and Females,”
Journal of Sex Research
10:293–307.

33

. . . percentages almost identical to those reported by Alfred C. Kinsey: Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. D., and Martin, C. E. (1948).
Sexual Behavior in the Human
Male
(Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company), 628; Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. D., Martin, C. E., and Gebhard P. H. (1953).
Sexual Behavior in the Human Female
(Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company), 628.

33

Among college students, the Meston Lab: Meston, C. M., Trapnell, P. D., and Gorzalka, B. B. (1996). “Ethnic and Gender Differences in Sexuality: Variations in Sexual Behavior between Asian and Non-Asian University Students,”
Archives of Sexual Behavior
25:33–72.

35

Recently, researchers at the University of L’Aquila: Gravina, G. L., et al. (2008). “measurement of the Thickness of the Urethrovaginal Space in Women With or Without Vaginal Orgasm,”
Journal of Sexual Medicine
5:610–18.

36

“the abrupt cessation”: Kinsey, A. C., et al. (1953).
Sexual Behavior in the Human Female
.

37

“sensation of suspension or stoppage”: Masters, W. H., and Johnson, V. (1966).
Human Sexual Response
(Boston: Little, Brown and Co.).

37

By 2001, there were no: Mah, K., and Binik, Y. M. (2001). “The Nature of Human Orgasm: A Critical Review of Major Trends,”
Clinical Psychology Review
21:823–56.

37

“An orgasm in the human female”: Meston, C. M., et al. (2004). “Women’s Orgasm,” in T. F. Lue et al. (eds.),
Sexual Medicine: Sexual Dysfunctions in Men and Women
(Paris, France: Health Publications), 783–850.

38

Masters and Johnson claimed: Masters, W. H., and Johnson, V. (1966).
Human Sexual Response
.

38

Some theorists have postulated: Levin, R. J. “The Physiology and Pathophysiology of the Female Orgasm,” in Goldstein, I., Meston, C. M., Davis, S. R., and Traish, A. M. (eds.) (2006).
Women’s Sexual Function and Dysfunction
(London: Taylor & Francis Group), 231.

42

In a survey of over 1,600: Laumann, E. O., et al. (1994).
The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

45

Mangaian men who fail: Marshall, D. S. (1971). “Sexual Behavior on Mangaia,” in Marshall D. S., and Suggs, R.C. (eds.),
Human Sexual Behavior: Variations in the Ethnographic Spectrum
(New York: Basic Books), 103–32.

46

These women had met for: Heinrich, A. G. (1976). “The Effect of Group and Self-Directed Behavioral-Educational Treatment of Primary Orgasmic Dysfunction in Females Treated Without Their Partners,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.

47

The book
Becoming Orgasmic
: Heiman, J. R., LoPiccolo, L., and LoPiccolo, J. (1976).
Becoming Orgasmic: A Sexual Growth Program for Women
(Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall).

47

Early theorists hypothesized: Laqueur, T. (1990).
Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press).

47

However, studies have now shown: Levin, R. J. (2002). “The Physiology of Sexual Arousal in the Human Female: A Recreational and Procreational Synthesis,”
Archives of Sexual Behavior
31:405–11.

48

One study found: Thornhill, R., Gangestad, S. W., and Comer, R. (1995). “Human Female Orgasm and Mate Fluctuating Asymmetry,”
Animal Behavior
50:1601–15.

48

One interesting and rather controversial: Baker, R. R., and Bellis, M. A. (1995).
Human Sperm Competition: Copulation, Masturbation and Infidelity
(London: Chapman and Hall).

48

If a woman has an orgasm: Ibid.

48

This in turn helps to facilitate: Reyes, A., et al. (1979). “Effect of Prolactin on the Calcium Binding and/or Transport of Ejaculated and Epididymal Human Spermatozoa,”
Fertility and Sterility
31:669–72.

 

3. T
HE
T
HING
C
ALLED
L
OVE

 

51

Romantic love is something: As cited in Hatfield, E., and Rapson, R. L. (2007). “Passionate Love and Sexual Desire: Multidisciplinary Perspectives,” in J.P. Forgas (ed.),
Personal Relationships: Cognitive, Affective, and Motivational Processes
, 10th Sydney Symposium of Social Psychology, Sydney, Australia.

52

For example, Hatfield reports: As cited in Hatfield, E., and Rapson, R. L. (2009). “The Neuropsychology of Passionate Love,” in D. Marazziti (ed.),
Neuropsychology of Social Relationships
, Nova Science.

54

Sternberg has identified: Sternberg, R. J. (1999).
Love Is a Story: A New Theory of Relationships
(New York: Oxford University Press).

55

Neuroscientist Niels Birbaumer: Birbaumer, N., et al. (1993). “Imagery and Brain Processes,” in N. Birbaumer and A. Öhman (eds.),
The Structure of Emotion
(Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers).

55

In 2003, a decade after: Bartels, A., and Zeki, S. (2000). “The Neural Basis of Romantic Love,”
Neuroreport
11 (November 27): 3829–34.

56

The “love is a drug”: Liebowitz, M. R. (1983).
The Chemistry of Love
(Boston: Little, Brown).

57

To test their hypothesis: Marazziti, D., et al. (1999). “Alteration of the Platelet Serotonin Transporter in Romantic Love,”
Psychological Medicine
29(3):741–45.

58

The women believe that after: Jankowiak, W. (1995).
Romantic Passion: A Universal Experience
? (New York: Columbia University Press).

58

Susan Sprecher and her colleagues: Sprecher, S., Aron, A., et al. (1994). “Love: American Style, Russian Style, and Japanese Style,”
Personal Relationships
1:349–69.

58

Studies examining love in other: Jankowiak, W. R., and Fisher, E. F. (1992). “A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Romantic Love,”
Ethnology
31:149–55.

58

In the most massive study: Buss, D. M., Abbott, M., et al. (1990). “International Preferences in Selecting Mates: A Study of 37 Cultures,”
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
21:5–47.

59

In a study on the link: Levine, R., Sato, S., et al. (1995). “Love and Marriage in Eleven Cultures,”
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
26:554–71.

59

Clearly, in nations where: As cited in Hatfield, E., and Rapson, R. L. (2007). “Passionate Love and Sexual Desire.”

59

Psychologists who have studied: Ibid.

59

A study that assessed 231 college dating couples: Rubin, A., Peplau, L. A., and Hill, C. T. (1981). “Loving and Leaving: Sex Differences in Romantic Attachments,”
Sex Roles
8:821–35.

62

Inscribed on the four-thousand: Arsu, S. (2006). “The Oldest Line in the World,”
New York Times
, February 14, 1.

63

Women who are most open: Shaver, P. R., and Mikulincer, M. (2008). “A Behavioral Systems Approach to Romantic Love Relationships: Attachment, Caregiving, and Sex,” in R. Sternberg and K. Weis (eds.),
The New Psychology of Love
(New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press).

63

In the Meston Sexual Psychophysiology Lab: Meston, C. M., Trapnell, P. D., and Gorazalka, B. B. (1998). “Ethnic, Gender, and Length of Residency Influences on Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes,”
Journal of Sex Research
35:176–88.

63

Psychologist David Schmitt: Schmitt, D. (2008). Unpublished data.

63

With these people in mind: Buss, D. M. (1988). “Love Acts: The Evolutionary Biology of Love,” in R. Sternberg and M. Barnes (eds.),
The Psychology of Love
(New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press).

66

“Now when their nature”: Plato (1991). Trans. with comment by R. E. Allen.
The Symposium
(New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press).

67

In a study conducted: McCall, K. M., and Meston, C. M. (2006). “Cues Resulting in Desire for Sexual Activity in Women,”
Journal of Sexual Medicine
3:838–52.

68

Kissing between romantic or sexual partners: Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. (1970).
Love and Hate: On the Natural History of Behavior Patterns
(New York: Methuen).

68

Human lips are densely packed: Walter, C. (2008). “Affairs of the Lips,”
Scientific American
(February/March):24–29.

68

Whereas 53 percent of men: Hughes, S. M., Harrison, M. A., and Gallup, G. G. (2007). “Sex Differences in Romantic Kissing among College Students: An Evolutionary Perspective,”
Evolutionary Psychology
5:612–31.

69

There has not been a lot of research: Kosfeld, M., Heinrichs, M., et al. (2005). “Oxytocin Increases Trust in Humans,”
Nature
435:673–76.

71

The attachment-prone, faithful prairie voles: Insel, T. R., and Shapiro, L. E. (1992). “Oxytocin Receptor Distribution Reflects Social Organization in Monogamous and Polygamous Voles,”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
89:5981–85.

71

Very recently, it has also been discovered: Edwards, S., and Self, D. W. (2006). “Monogamy: Dopamine Ties the Knot.”
Nature Neuroscience
9:7–8.

72

They found that they could: Lim, M. M., and Young, L. J. (2004). “Vasopressin-Dependent Neural Circuits Underlying Pair Bonding in the Monogamous Prairie Vole,”
Neuroscience
125:35–45.

72

When they used a harmless virus: Lim, M. M., Wang, Z., et al. (2004). “Enhanced Partner Preference in a Promiscuous Species by Manipulating the Expression of a Single Gene,”
Nature
429:754–57.

73

In sharp contrast, the nonmonogamous: Meston, C. M., and Hamilton, L. D. (2009). Unpublished data.

76

Hands down, women: Buss, D. M., Shackelford, T. K., et al. (1999). “Jealousy and Beliefs About Infidelity: Tests of Competing Hypotheses in the United States, Korea, and Japan,”
Personal Relationships
6:125–50.

77

For this reason, some researchers believe that concealed ovulation: Others have argued for other functions of concealed ovulation, such as preventing men from mate guarding them when they are most fertile, which opens an option for securing benefits from extra-pair copulations.

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