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The Developmental Theory of Behaviorism and Human Sexuality
Human sexuality refers to the activities, practices, and behaviors that are displayed by individuals in different settings and at different stages in their development. These activities include methods used in attracting partners, relationships with partners, and the differences in the choice of partners. Sexuality is one of the major defining characteristics in the development of the individual. This is due to the fact that it determines one’s relationship with society and the expectations the society has for the individual.
According to Molina (1999), sexuality is only third in the hierarchy of things that occupy humans, coming after sleeping and eating in importance. This view of sexual needs as basic is further strengthened by the fact that human life seems to be centered on their sexuality. Society plays an important role in the development of an individual as can be seen from the differences in behavior between different communities and the strong similarities in individuals from the same community. The view that experiences shape the behavior of an individual is held by behaviorists who argue that, through experience and practice, a relatively enduring change in behavior is brought about.
The view by behaviorists does not include the effect of internal events such as biological development or genetic effects but rather focuses on the external environ as the basis for the modification of behavior. A major assumption made by behaviorists is that the workings of the mind can only be worked out by observing overt behavior (Huitt & Hummel, 2006). Therefore, once an individual is exposed to stimuli, a response to the stimuli is observed and thus a conclusion can be drawn from the individual’s response to the stimuli. The theory is based on the work of pioneers such as Watson, Pavlov, Thorndike and Skinner who suggested that learning and behavior is brought about by reaction to rewards, reinforcement, and punishment (Wagner, 2005). According to the behaviorist theory, with repeated performing of a certain action, the action becomes natural to the individual and it becomes part of behavior.
When this view is applied to human sexuality, the relationship between the individual’s environment and his/her ultimate sexual behavior is thought to be a direct one. The view that the child’s mind is a blank (tabula rasa) was held by the philosopher John Locke and that experiences are what shape their thinking. Also, the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rosseau held that the experiences of the individual are the primary determiners of the development of humans (Geary, 2009). Human sexuality is not driven by a “force” as in the lower animals but is a complex issue that is based on several factors which could be environmental according to the behaviorist theory. This is evident from the differences in choice of partners in a given society and in customs related to sex as opposed to the uniformity in sexual needs and behavior displayed by lower animals. This could be attributed to the higher capacity for learning and cognition present in humans.
Ivan Pavlov proposed a behaviorist theory based on classical conditioning in which a dog’s salivating was used to study the effect of experience. A bell was rung before the dog was fed and then, after repeated feedings, the dog began to salivate only after the bell had been ringed. Therefore, the dog came to associate the ring of the bell with the food. The neutral conditioned stimulus-the ring of the bell, then became the cause for a certain reaction which is salivation. A natural stimulant that causes a reaction is then replaced by the neutral stimulus which has reliably preceded the natural stimulus. Therefore, behavior-in this case salivation- was conditioned by experience and association.
Pavlov’s results could be applied to the phenomenon of sexuality where stimuli that had been natural are replaced by neutral stimuli in bringing about a certain behavior. Therefore, since there are different stimuli associated with certain sexual activities in a society, the individuals in the society take up these views (are conditioned) and they substitute these stimuli with their natural inclinations. For example, a certain behavior or characteristic may be regarded as especially sexually attractive in a given society. With repeated exposure to this view, he individual may then begin to take to the view as true and begin applying it in their interaction with their society by associating the natural stimuli with the new.
In a research on the views of Canadian university students on what constitutes normal sexual activities, it was established that the responses of the individual was based on their experiences. For example, if an individual had been exposed to and had sex, he/she was more likely to designate more sexual practices as normal. Also, individuals who had less exposure to sex were found to hold a smaller list of sexual activities as normal (Morrison, Ryan, Fox, McDermott, & Morrison, 2008). In classical conditioning, no response from the subject is required to modify the subject’s behavior. Therefore, the individual’s response is not required on whether they like sex or not but association of sex with pleasure causes anticipation for more sex and possible increased seeking out of sex. This indicates that the view held by behaviorists could be truthful and therefore the theory could be used to describe human sexual behavior.
John Watson introduced the subject of behaviorism and argued that human behavior could be studied by looking into one’s behavior and observable actions rather than speculating on their mental functions. Since behavior is observable, experiments on behavior could be carried out which would satisfy scientific demands for proof. Therefore, the subject’s environment could be controlled and reactions to it could be used to deduce the relationships the individual had with the society and explain their behavior scientifically (Net Industries, 2009).
Edward Lee Thorndike, a behaviorist, introduced two laws which sought to explain behavior. The first, referred to as the law of exercise, proposed that the more a certain association is used, the stronger will be the neural connection used by the brain to associate the two activities. Conversely, the less an association is used, the less strong the neural connection between the two parts of the brain which are used to process the activity. The second law was called the law of effect and it proposed that a neural connection was strengthened by a good outcome and it was weakened by a bad reaction to an activity (Boeree, 2000).
This theory could explain the sexuality of individuals in a community since traditions and practices are introduced to the young who do them constantly and, according to the theory, they would develop stronger neural connections for the activities and they would therefore repeat them more often. This would eventually shape the society’s sexual behavior since activities established in the past would be passed on to others and they would in turn pass them to others. Also, if an action were to be punished by society or those around the individual, he/she would not repeat the action and it would therefore cease to exist in the society.
B. F. Skinner introduced the theory of operant conditioning where the individual’s reaction to stimuli was either punished or rewarded. Skinner tested the proposals made by Watson and came to the conclusion that the subject could modify their reactions to suit the stimulant’s effect. Therefore, consequences which had been experienced in the past were used as the basis for behavior modification. Reinforcements in the theory are those stimulants that increase the likelihood of repeating an action. Punishment stands for those stimulants which are negative therefore causing a reduced frequency or ending of the action in question. Skinner used an experiment in which a rat was taught to press a lever for food. The rat learnt to continually press the lever since the reaction to their action was positive. However, if the food was replaced with an electric shock, the rat immediately ceased their action.
In a process called extinction, pressing the lever was not rewarded and, consequently, the action reduced in frequency. However, the rats did not stop doing the action as fast as they did when the reaction had been negative (Naik, 1998). The subject, therefore, has a measure of control on the recurrence of the stimuli. Pavlov’s conditioning deals with the subject’s anticipation of the stimuli and it is based on their reaction to events in the world while operant conditioning is about a maximizing of rewards and a minimization of punishments. This theory could be used to explain sexuality and its relationship to the action of the individual and the response to the action by society or those around them. If the action is positively reinforced by society, the action is repeated but if it is actively discouraged, it is not repeated. However, if there is little response to the action, extinction occurs and it may either be continued or it would cease.
In sexual activities, pleasurable activities such as masturbation could bring about increased frequency of doing the same. However, parental denunciation of the practice brings about a conflict and therefore the action is reduced in frequency or it is stopped. Also, according to the operant conditioning theory, societal views of certain sexual practices as bad would also shape the views of the individual no matter their inclinations. If adolescents are punished for sexual actions, they are likely to associate these activities with guilt and anxiety and they would therefore avoid them (Molina, 1999). Therefore, depending on societal demands and its reaction to an individual’s sexual activities, the society either rewards their action or punishes the action therefore bringing about a modification of the behavior. The theory could therefore explain the differences in sexuality in different societies and the similarities in the sexual practices of individuals in the same society.
Albert Bandura tried to explain some inconsistencies found in the behaviorist theory. One inconsistency which appeared in the theory was the fact that some behavior was neither sanctioned by others nor condemned but sit was either picked up by a subject or discarded. Bandura performed an experiment in which some school children were shown a video of a woman beating a doll. Without being told anything, the children reacted in the same way as they had seen in the video which exposed the inconsistencies in the behaviorist theory. He introduced the concept of behavioral modeling and learning through observation (Boeree, 2006).
The theory proposed that when one paid attention to an activity and then retained it, he/she could reproduce the action later without the society’s involvement. Important aspects of the theory are motivation and self regulation. The theory proposed that motivation was produced by either reinforcement or punishment but, unlike previous propositions, it was divided into three which are past reinforcement-as in previous theories, promised reinforcement and vicarious reinforcement. The same type of division was also applied to punishment. Promised reinforcement or incentives include imagined reinforcements while vicarious reinforcement is those which had been observed during the activity and could be recalled. Self regulation, according to Bandura’s theory, consists of self-observation, judgment, and self-response (Boeree, 2006).
Bandura suggested that an individual constantly analyzes the self which is self-observation and then compares the self with a set standard which he termed judgment. Finally, one acts according in response to the evaluation one has done of the self. This theory indicates that the individual has greater control over their actions than had been previously suggested. Therefore, an individual, according to his/her evaluation of the self and set standards, reacts in different ways to stimuli. For that reason, an individual’s sexuality is determined not just by his/her environment, but also from self observation and analysis. This theory, therefore, explains the differences observed in the sexuality of some individuals from societal norms and also takes into account the superior reasoning capacity of man which differentiates him from other animals (Boeree, 2006). Therefore, behaviorist theories could be used too explain people’s behavior, including their sexuality, which is shown to be influenced by their by their developmental environment as is evident from the differences seen in the sexuality of individuals in different societies and environs.
References
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Boeree, C. G. (2006). Personality Theories: Albert Bandura. Retrieved October 5, 2009 from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/bandura.html
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Geary, D. C. (2009). Developmental Theory – Cognitive and Information Processing, Evolutionary Approach, Vygotskian Theory. Retrieved October 5, 2009 from
http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1913/Developmental-Theory.html
Huitt, W., & Hummel, J. (2006). An overview of the behavioral perspective. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved October 5, 2009 from http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/behsys/behsys.html
Naik, P. (August 1998). Behaviorism as a Theory of Personality: A Critical Look. Northwestern University. Retrieved October 5, 2009 from http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/naik.html
Net Industries (2009). John B. Watson (1878–1958) – Popularizing Behaviorism, The Little Albert Study, The “Dozen Healthy Infants”, Life after the University. Retrieved October 5, 2009 from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2543/Watson-John-B-1878-1958.html
Molina, L. (1999). Human Sexuality. Northridge, California State University. Retrieved October 5, 2009 from http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy00h/students/sexual.htm
Morrison, T.G., Ryan, T. A., Fox, L., McDermott, D. T., Morrison, M. A. (2008). Canadian university students’ perceptions of the practices that constitute “normal” sexuality for men and women. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. Retrieved October 5, 2009 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1966/is_4_17/ai_n31903471/?tag=content;col1
Wagner, K. V. (2005). Child Development Theories. Retrieved October 5, 2009 from http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/childdevtheory.htm
