Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Human sexual response is a complex combination of social, hormonal, physiological and psychological factors, most of which are poorly understood. Society plays a role in what is considered to be acceptable in sexual desire: religious beliefs, family values and upbringing all affect one's attitude to one's own feelings of sexual desire. Hormones play a role the massive surges in testosterone and oestrogen in adolescents that precedes sexual activity are overwhelming in the changes they bring about in the transition from youth to adult. Sexual desire is the first of three behvioural repertoires associated with reproduction: sex drive to find a mate , attraction to find the best mate and attachment or love to allow time successfully to reproduce. It is possibly one of the strongest drives in man and animals and it can bring out the best and the worst in people.
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In psychoanalytic theory libido is psychic drive or energy, particularly associated with sexual instinct, but also present in other instinctive desires and drives. Biologically, the sex hormones and associated neurotransmitters that act upon the nucleus accumbens primarily testosterone and dopamine , respectively regulate libido in humans. Libido can also be affected by medical conditions, medications, lifestyle and relationship issues, and age e. A person who has extremely frequent or a suddenly increased sex drive may be experiencing hypersexuality , while the opposite condition is hyposexuality. A person may have a desire for sex, but not have the opportunity to act on that desire, or may on personal, moral or religious reasons refrain from acting on the urge. Psychologically, a person's urge can be repressed or sublimated.
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Sexual desire is a motivational state and an interest in sexual objects or activities, or as a wish, or drive to seek out sexual objects or to engage in sexual activities. Not every person experiences sexual desire; those who do not experience it may be labelled asexual. Sexual desire may be the single most common sexual event in the lives of people. Sexual desire can be spontaneous or responsive. The sexual desire spectrum is described by Stephen B. The production and use of sexual fantasy and thought is an important part of properly functioning sexual desire.
Sexual desire is typically viewed as an interest in sexual objects or activities. More precisely, it is the subjective feeling of wanting to engage in sex. Sexual desire is sometimes, but not always, accompanied by genital arousal such as penile erection in men and vaginal lubrication in women. Sexual desire can be triggered by a large variety of cues and situations, including private thoughts, feelings, and fantasies; erotic materials such as books, movies, photographs ; and a variety of erotic environments, situations, or social interactions. Sexual desire is often confused with sex drive, but these are fundamentally different constructs. Sex drive represents a basic, biologically mediated motivation to seek sexual activity or sexual gratification. In contrast, sexual desire represents a more complex psychological experience that is not dependent on hormonal factors. One useful way to think about the distinction between sex drive and sexual desire comes from research on nonhuman primates. This research distinguishes between proceptivity and receptivity.
