Psychology 2035A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Sexual Differentiation, Prenatal Development, Sexual Identity

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2035A/B
• Professor: Doug Hazelwood

Document Summary

Becoming a sexual person: people very greatly on how they express their sexuality, sex research has some unique problems- depend mostly on survey methods so susceptible to participant bias. Key aspects of sexual identity: identity refers to a clear and stable sense of who one is in the larger society, sexual identity- complex set of personal qualities, self-perceptions, attitudes, values, and preferences that guide one"s sexual behaviour. Sense of yourself as a sexual person. Physiological influences: hormones have been of particular interest to researchers- have important effects on sexual development. Hormones and sexual differentiation: during the prenatal period a number of biological developments result in a fetus (male/female) Hormones play an important role in this process= sexual differentiation: 3rd month of prenatal development, different hormonal secretions are produced by male/female gonads- sex glands. Males, testes produce androgens (testosterone is most important of androgens) Both are present in both genders but different proportions.