SEXUALITY MYTHS

The following information was originally presented for a graduate gerontology class on the psychosocial aspects of aging at UNC. The following information was compiled by Stephanie Taylor and should not be reproduced without the express and written consent of the author. Thank you again to Vanessa Ewing’s Spring 2002 Psy of Prejudice class for inviting me to present sexuality and aging issues!

FOLKLORIC MYTHS

MYTH # 1

Pythagoras convinced his fellow Grecian followers that semen is "the flower of the purest blood" and therefore admonished the men to live strictly chaste lives.

MYTH # 2

Galen, a Grecian philosopher and physician, believed that ejaculation would deplete the body of its vitality.

Hindus held similar beliefs.

MYTH # 3

The ancient Chinese were convinced that a man's seminal fluid was his most precious possession, but limited in quantity. Therefore they strictly regulated the occasions when they would allow themselves to experience orgasm.

MYTH # 4

It's not uncommon for a professional male athlete to abstain from sexual intercourse the night before a game for fear that his performance will be negatively affected.

MYTH # 5

Physicians in the 1960s commonly believed that each drop of ejaculate is equivalent to losing forty drops of blood.

MYTH # 6

The myth that has probably had the most impact on the older population is the belief that reducing or eliminating sexual activity will extend a man's longevity.

Sexuality & Aging Myths

Croft, L. H. (1982). Sexuality in later life: A counseling guide for physicians. Boston: John Wright/PSG INC.

1. Intercourse and emission of semen are debilitating and will tend to hasten old age and death.

2. Ones' sex life can be prolonged by abstinence in earlier years and inactivity in later years.

3. Masturbation is a childish activity that is put aside when one reaches adulthood, and is carried out by older persons only if they are seriously disturbed.

4. Coital satisfaction and interest decrease considerably after menopause.

5. Older men are particularly subject to sexual deviations, for example, exhibitionism and child-molesting.

6. Older women who still enjoy sex were probably nymphomaniacs when they were younger.

7. Most older men lose their ability and desire to have sex.

8. Sexual ability and performance remain the same throughout life.

9. If older individuals go without sex for several years, they will not be able to have sex at a future time.

10. Older people with chronic illness or physical disabilities should cease sexual activity completely. (p. 155, Appendix B)

11. People with heart conditions should avoid sexual exertion.

PURITAN INFLUENCE

· Puritans immigrated to North America in 1630. They sailed aboard the ship Arabella in 1630 and established a colony at what is now Boston.

· A common misconception that we hold today is that the Puritans disliked sex.

· Puritans believed that everyone was tainted with original sin and therefore were imperfect especially in their submission to God's will.

· The Puritans strongly believed that the next closest relationship besides between oneself and God was between a husband and wife.

· It was expected that a married couple would deeply and genuinely love each other and enjoy sexual relations.

· Instead of being prudishly obsessive about sex as is commonly believed, they believed that sexual intercourse was a gift from God and therefore to be enjoyed especially since it brought new life into the world.

· Sex was also to be enjoyed for its own sake, not just for the reproductive purposes (Link, et al., 1984).

Link, A. S., Remini, R. V., Greenburg, D., & McMath, R. C. (1984).

A concise history of the American people. Arlington Heights, Illinois: Harlan Davidson Inc.

Victorian Influences

· Queen Victoria reigned over Great Britain & Ireland (and Empress of India) from 1837 to 1901

· Victorian attitudes can be traced back to the deeply rooted moralism of the late 18th Century.

· There was great worry that after the Revolutionary War there would be great socio-political unrest.

o So a lot of power was used to keep order.

o They believed that the drive to revolt and sexual urge were related somehow.

o In order to keep order, people's sexuality had to be repressed.

· The concept of keeping your body to yourself and fighting off sexual urges became a standard value.

· Of course those who gave in to sexual urges were perceived as lustful and evil. In this way conformity to society's norms was seen as a form of self- discipline and those who deviated or didn't conform were ostracized.

· They carefully guarded themselves against temptation, no matter how slight.

· If you went to church, worked hard, provided for and nurtured your family, and repressed sexuality then you were a good Victorian.

· Contemporary North American sexual norms were and still are significantly influenced by the Victorian era.

· The Victorian period has come to be associated with stifling, stringent rules in which individuals are expected to conduct themselves, especially with regard to sexual behavior.

· Forbidden sexual activities:

o masturbation

o public displays of affection

o homosexuality

o extramarital sexual relationships

· Although Sigmund Freud was considered a pioneer in increasing sexual awareness, he warned parents against the sinful effects of masturbation (he later changed his mind at the age of 69).

· Infant blanket sleepers and infant harnesses (baby carriers) made their debut during this time as they prevented infants from touching their genitalia.

· Prostitution was condoned as a sexual catharsis for masturbation.

· Sexual intercourse was not to be enjoyed; sexual intercourse was primarily perceived to serve two functions, to relieve male sexual tension, and to procreate.

· Men and women who were raised with Victorian values may outwardly appear to be sexless because they have been taught to conceal public displays of affection.

· Since sexual intercourse was perceived to the means to a reproductive end, it was assumed that older adults would simply lose interest.

· Those who did not conform to these prescribed norms were considered deviant and dirty (i.e., dirty old man).

· Sexual Victorianism has had surprisingly long lasting effects on people's attitudes in the twentieth century despite a steady trend toward more liberal sexual values (Brecher, 1984).

CONTEXTUAL PERSPECTIVE

BRIEF HISTORICAL TIMELINE

Renaissance (1400-1600): transition from medieval world to modern

Puritans (1630): sailed aboard the ship Arabella and established a colony at Boston

Enlightenment: a mainly 18th century European philosophical movement characterized by a reliance on reason and experience rather than dogma and tradition and by an emphasis on humanitarian political goals and social progress.

Industrial Revolution: the change in social and economic organization resulting from the replacement of hand tools by machine and power tools and the development of large-scale industrial production: applied to this development in England from about 1760 and to later changes in other countries.

America Declared Independence (1776):

Victorian Era (late 1700s to early 1800s):

Civil War (1861-1864):

AGE COMPARISON TABLE

This Table shows how socio-historical values and norms can influence the messages that parents pass onto their children and their children and so on.

Current Age Born Parents Most And Their

(Year 2000) Likely Born Parents

50 1950 1930 1910

60 1940 1920 1900

70 1930 1910 1890

80 1920 1900 1880

90 1910 1890 1870

100 1900 1880 1860

Age Differences in Spouses and Consequences of Unequal Life Expectancy

The average 70 y/o woman has a 74 y/o husband
The average 70 y/o man has a 66 y/o wife
Widowhood lasts 11 years on average
There are 3x as many widows as widowers
Of those age 65-69, there are 85 men per 100 women
Of those 85 y/o +, there are less than 40 men per 100 women

Medical / Physiological Considerations

· The medical field has determined that semen emission is commensurate to salivary expectoration.

· Sexual physical exertion is roughly the same as walking up two flights of stairs.

· People have exploited older adults fears of aging so they are often the target of self-help books, mineral supplements, and miracle elixirs.

Normal Changes for Women

· changes in sexual function are primarily a result of decreased amounts of estrogen circulating in body

· decrease in rate and amount of vaginal lubrication

· fewer orgasmic contractions

· general atrophy of vaginal tissue (reduced size of clitoral, vulvar, and labial tissue, decreased size of uterus, cervix, and ovaries)

Normal Changes for Men

· increase in time to produce a full erection

· increase in time that erections must be maintained in order to ejaculate

· decrease in force (seepage) and amount seminal fluid during ejaculation

· retrograde ejaculation (ejaculation back into the bladder)

· increase in refractory time

· decrease in size and firmness of the testes and a change in testicle elevation

What, if any, purpose do Sexual Activity, Intimacy, Touch, and Love serve?

Sex is one way that people express the strong desire to feel connected to someone else
Sexual intimacy is an expression of trust and tenderness that enables people to bond emotionally and physically. It maintains interdependence in that love-making is an expression of the concern each person has for the other's well-being

Stereotypes

Beliefs that associate groups of people with certain traits; stereotypes can be overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information

· Older people are asexual

· Even if older people could engage in sexual behavior, they certainly don't want to / are not interested

· Sex is dangerous to older people's health

· Sex in later years is a futile attempt at remaining young

· Older people are not attractive; Society's ideal of female sexuality is the image of a young, slender, wrinkle-free, firm body and that sexual intercourse is the ultimate expression of sexual behavior

· A sexually active older man is labeled a "dirty old man"

· Sex is reserved for the young since it's associated with power

· Adult children's beliefs that a parent should not pursue new relationships after divorce or death

· Nursing home, etc. staff's beliefs that residents should not engage in sexual activities

· Aging is a disease; older people are sick and poor; they lack any kind of physical capacity and are therefore sexless

Do these Negative Attitudes Toward Older People Serve any kind of Useful purpose?

Children fear financial loss

People who are intimately connected with another person have an ally

Adaptiveness and protectiveness regarding self-worth

Source: Falk, G. & Falk, U. A., (1980). Sexuality and the aged.

Nursing Outlook, 1, 51-55.

Factors and Consequences Associated with Actual and Perceived Decline of Older Adults' Sexual Interest and Sexual Activity

· Negative attitudes toward sex learned at a young age. Sources include parents, teachers and other role models, media

· Negative self image because body doesn't look like it used to

· The self-fulfilling prophecy holds that lower expectations of sexual adequacy, not incapacity or lack of desire, contribute to decreased sexual activity

· Little sexual activity during younger years is associated with little sexual activity as an older adult; Research shows that patterns of sexual attitudes and behavior tend to remain stable throughout the life time (supports continuity theory)

· Boredom with long-term relationships. Keep passion alive!

· Marital difficulties

· Difficulties adapting to changes (i.e., retirement, illness, children leaving home)

· Religious sanctions (i.e., sex for reproduction without acknowledging that sex serves an important function in love, intimacy, and overall well-being). "Be fruitful and multiply."

· Lack of opportunity due to death, divorce, living in a facility that lacks privacy, etc.

· Nursing home residents who engage in any form of sexual expression are viewed as having behavioral problems, which in some cases has led to tranquilizing older people.

· Certain types of medications (or combinations of) have been associated with decreased sexual interest and functioning (i.e., antidepressants, tranquilizers, antihypertensives).

· Dementia and pathological factors

Nursing Homes Stifle Sexual Expression in a Number of Ways:

no locks on doors
single beds
same gender wings
unannounced room entry
roommates
heavily trafficked public gathering areas compared to more private niches
staff's attitudes
children's attitudes
propensity of nursing home staff to overmedicate residents
no acknowledgement that older adults are still sexual beings (i.e., no educational workshops, no staff training)
not realizing that sexual expressiveness and showing love takes many forms
not recognizing and affirming homosexual and bisexual sexual relationships; not recognizing and affirming cultural variations of expressing love and passion

In-Class Activity

Instructions: Predict speeds of national winners of a 1-km bicycle time trial.

Description of a 1-km bicycle time trial:

Each participant sets off alone
The participant who covers 1 km in the shortest time is the winner
The 1-km bicycle trial is considered an intense form of track racing
1-km is about as long as 17 ½ football fields (a football field is 100 yards/300feet); 1-km is .621 of a mile (or slightly over half a mile).

Age Prediction

17-18

20s

30-34 1:13.40

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60+

Instructions: Predict speeds of national winners of a 1-km bicycle time trial.

Description of a 1-km bicycle time trial:

Each participant sets off alone
The participant who covers 1 km in the shortest time is the winner
The 1-km bicycle trial is considered an intense form of track racing
1-km is about as long as 17 ½ football fields (a football field is 100 yards/300feet); 1-km is .621 of a mile (or slightly over half a mile).

Age Prediction

17-18

20s

30-34 1:13.40

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60+

Age Actual Average Scores

17-18 1:10.85

20s 1:09.38

30-34 1:13.40

35-39 1:13.52

40-44 1:18.32

45-49 1:17.29

50-54 1:21.39

55-59 1:26.62

60+ 1:30.58

Rate your degree of surprise at seeing the discrepancy between actual results and your estimates

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

No Extreme

Surprise Surprise

5.9 was average degree of surprise for college students. Range was from 4 to 7.

Why do you put the time ratings that you did?

Lack of personal experience with physically fit older individuals
Image of older individuals depicted in the media

AGEING & SEXUALITY: SOURCES OF Prejudice and Discrimination

Socio-cultural influences

Prejudicial attitudes toward older people not only arise from cultural myths, but also from societal norms.
Prejudice is connected with differences although not all of our differences lead to prejudice.
According to Gordon Allport, to know which differences make a difference in prejudice, we must examine the society within which people live and the kinds of distinction that over time have been marked as important ways to differentiate people within that society.
We need to know about the history of social relations within a given society in order to discern which differences lead to liking and which evoke hatred or fear (Sampson, 1999) [Dealing with Differences pg 17-24].

Stereotypes reflect cultural beliefs.
Within a given society, there are easily recognized descriptions of members of a particular group. Even if we don't blv these stereotypes, we can easily recognize them as common blfs held by others. (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2002).

Perceived differences between young and old people are socially constructed, and are not necessarily reducible to biological causes. How a culture views age, therefore, is often based upon socially / culturally agreed upon standards

[pg 81 Annual Editions Aging 98/99 by Newman, Faux, & Larimer—Division of McGraw-Hill]

Cognitive & Learning Perspectives

Cognition: Categorization

Why do we categorize people according to age groups?
The first step in prejudice is the creation of groups, the categorization of some people into one group based on certain characteristics and of others into another group based on their different characteristics (Aronson et al., 2002).
The underlying theme of human soc cog is such categorization grouping stimuli according to their similarities and contrasting stimuli according to their disparities.
We make sense of our social world by grouping people by gender, ethnicity, and age, etc.
We don't react to each stimulus we encounter as new and completely unknown (cuts down on learning time, expenditure of energy)
We rely on our perceptions of what similar stimuli have been like in the past to help us determine how to react to this particular stimulus (Aronson et al., 2002)
In grp vs out grps: What is the mechanism tt produces in-group bias, the positive feelings and special treatment for people we have defined as being part of our in-group and negative feelings and unfair treatment for others simply because we've defined them as our out-group.

Learning: Classical Conditioning

Where and how did the association of older age and denigration, devaluation develop?
One view is that has roots in learning theory. Classical conditioning (higher order) perspective we associate growing older with death. We fear death. Therefore we fear growing old. What we fear we come to reject and devalue and hate.

Learning: Social learning theory

would explain that learning is influenced by our observations of others. Not only do we learn social and cultural messages from our primary caregivers, but we also learn what is valuable and desirable by being exposed to media influences (i.e., TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, etc.). The roles in which older people are portrayed are limited and predominantly negative (i.e., goofy, absent-minded, slow, cranky).

Social psychology and Personality psychology perspectives

British soc psychologist, Henri Tajfel (1982) believed tt the major underlying motive is self-esteem, ppl seek to enhance their self-esteem by identifying with specific social groups. Yet self-esteem will be enhanced only if the individual sees these groups as superior to the other groups. (basically it's not enough for young people to feel good about being young, they have to put down older people to complete the enhancement process)

Resistance to Change

Once we have developed prejudicial attitudes toward aging based on stereotypes, they are extremely resistant to change. Reasons why stereotypes are resistant to change is because

(a) we selectively pay attention to what is congruent with our current beliefs, and

(b) our views are consistently reinforced when we observe an older person who is frail, unhappy, cranky, forgetful, etc.

(c) Info consistent with our blfs abt specific grps will be given more attention, will be rehearsed (or recalled) more often, and therefore will be remembered better than information that is not consistent with our blfs.

Note: the refs below are not necessarily in APA format.

Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., and Akert, R. M. (2002). Social psychology (4^th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Sampson, E. E. (1999). Dealing with differences: An introduction to the social psychology of prejudice. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

STEREOTYPE: a generalization about a group of people in which identical characteristics are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members

PREJUDICE: a hostile or negative attitude toward a distinguishable group of people, based solely on their membership in that group.

Info taken from Helen Bee’s (1996) The Journey of Adulthood (4^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

AGEISM: gerontologists compare the term, ageism, to racism and sexism to refer to the generally negative atts that ppl have abt the elderly. Older adults are routinely described as childlike, cranky, infirm, “out to pasture”, “over the hill”, senile, uncertain, useless, and “washed up.” Positive ageism is seen in countries like China and Japan whose cultures bestow respect upon their elders.

ADULTHOOD: period btwn 18 to death

YOUNG ADULTHOOD: 18-40

MIDDLE ADULTHOOD: 40-65

OLD AGE: refers to ages btwn 65 and death with the following subdivisions (young old—65-75; old old—75-85; oldest old—85+)

AGING: the passage of years; try not associate “aging” with decline or getting worse.

QUOTES

Young love is from the earth, and late love is from heaven -Turkish proverb

Freud found sex an outcast in the outhouse, and left it in the living room an honored guest -W. Beran Wolfe

I regard sex as the central problem of life....Sex lies at the root of life, and we can never learn to reverence life until we know how to understand sex. So, at least it seems to me. -Havelock Ellis

"Old" people are people who have lived a certain number of years and that is all.... Once an older person comes to be seen, not as old first and provisionally a person second, but as a person who happens also to be old, and who is still as he or she always was, plus experience and minus the consequences of certain physical accidents of time-only then will social gerontology have made its point. -Alex Comfort

The fundamental precept of the fight for longevity is avoidance of satisfaction. One must not lose desires. They are mighty stimulants to creativeness, to love, and to long life. -Alexander Bogomoletz, Russian physician, scientist

Lacking a culturally viable ideal of old age, our civilization does not really harbor a concept of the whole of life. -Erik Erikson

Our minds grow in spots; and like grease spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible; we keep unaltered as much of our old knowledge, as many of our old prejudices and beliefs as we can. -William James, 1907

The world is full of pots jeering at kettles. -La Rochefoucauld, 1678

Wiley, D., & Bortz II, W. M. (1996). Sexuality and aging: Usual and successful. Journal of Gerontology, 51A (3), M142-M146.

Introduction

Goals of this study:

1) To address three methodological and theoretical concerns:

(a) the lack of normative data on older people's sexual desires and functioning

(b) the lack of a conceptual framework integrating biopsychosocial aspects of gender and sexuality

2) To make available to the scientific, academic, and gerontological communities their research results for the purpose of informing social policy

Hypothesis: seeks to ask whether sexuality is a function whose nature conforms to those other areas of human experience which are demonstrated to be improvable.

· Sexuality is a quality of life issue

· The 1948 Kinsey report had a profound impact in negating the stereotype that sexual activity stopped at age 50

· Aging influences changes in attitudes about sexuality (i.e. desire, beliefs about performance, etc.)

· Couples who have frequent sex have fewer arguments, are higher in self-esteem, and are less anxious

Method

Location of study: Palo Alto Senior Center

Date: October 1993

Available population: 158 attendees

Self-selected sample: 118 attendees; presumed to have a higher than average interest in sexuality since not randomly selected

Women : n=55 (47%) avg age=64 y/o

Men: n=63 (53%) avg age=68.3 y/o

Characteristics of the sample:

· Men (82%) were more likely to possess a college education than women (72%)

· Women (40%) were likely to live alone than men (33%)

· Men (64%) were more likely to live with a partner than women (53%)

· 67% of all respondents reported having an active sexual partner

Materials: A questionnaire given prior to their intervention and a questionnaire given 6-months after the intervention.

Pre-questionnaire: The items were comprised from previously developed instruments and items specific to the current study. The purpose of the questionnaires as quoted by the authors is "to obtain data regarding expression and aging."

Post-questionnaire: This questionnaire assessed whether an attitudinal shift had occurred and whether specific behaviors were occurring more, less, or the same as six months earlier.

Results

Table 1 Frequency of Sexual Activity: Past, Current, and Desired

[Behavioral Component]

10 yrs ago Current Desired

Males

Age <70 >70 <70 >70 <70 >70

<1 week 16% 17% 47% 67% 3% 9%

1 week 27 39 41 22 32 44

2+ week 57 44 12 11 66 48

Females

Age <70 >70 <70 >70 <70 >70

<1 week 20% 18% 48% 67% 12% 9%

1 week 22 36 32 11 31 36

2+ week 57 45 19 22 57 55

· High desire of sexual activity for both men and women

· 10 years ago the majority were engaging in sexual activity 2+/week

· Now they're engaging in sexual activity less than 1/week

· They desire their sexual activity levels to be like they were 10 years ago

Table 2 Preferred Form of Sexual Activity 10 Years Ago and Currently

[Cognitive Component]

Note: 1 = most important 7 = least important

Males Females

10 years ago Currently 10 years ago Curr

n = 47 n = 40 n = 36 n = 26

M M M M

-Importance of 4.26 4.31 3.02 3.30

kissing

-Oral sex 5.70 5.27 5.50 5.04

-Manual/Genital 4.57 4.30 4.50 3.96

stimulation

-Intercourse 2.72 3.23 4.24 4.92

-Orgasm 2.93 3.81 3.94 3.78

-Loving & caring 4.00 3.31 2.62 2.39

-Satisfying partner 3.22 3.11 4.08 4.11

· Men rated intercourse and orgasm as the most preferred form of sexual activity

· Women rated loving and caring and kissing as the most preferred form

Table 3 Feelings About Decreased Sexual Frequency, Percentage of Respondents

[Affective Component]

Female Male

<70 (n=38) >70 (n=9) <70 (n=37) >70 (n=23)

-Very Troubled 24% 0% 26% 21%

-Somewhat 39 44 59 58

Troubled

-Doesn't 29 56 11 21

Bother

-Somewhat

Relieved 0 0 2 0

-Very Relieved 7 0 2 0

· For women, but especially for men the decrease in frequency of sexual activity was somewhat troubling

· When asked to identify what some causes might in the decrease, they reported illness and erection difficulties, but relationship problems was rated the single most important factor.

The six-month follow-up questionnaire was only returned by 66 attendees (56% of the original 118 attendees). Issues addressed on the follow up questionnaire were: knowledge, permission, confidence, and interpersonal sensitivity

Discussion

· authors that usual sexual activity and enjoyment can become more successful through educational intervention. They are indirectly stating that there hypothesis was supported

· There was no difference in frequency of sexual activity over time one and time two

· They concluded that: (a) their group was still sexually activity later in life, (b) they would like to be more sexually active, and (c) intervention strategies are possible

· They reported that there were significant increases in knowledge, confidence, and sensitivity due to the educational program intervention

Limitations:

- self-report

- no control group

- constructs not defined

- small sample size

- made generalizations when shouldn't

-Declared a cause and effect relationship when (a) no statistics were reported, only descriptive data, (b) could only assess correlations with no control group

Strengths:

-added to knowledge base

-recognized importance of addressing all three components of attitudes (affective, behavioral, and cognitive)