Human Sexuality Terms From Chapter 4 Of Human Sexuality

Front 1

Sex

Back 1

An individual's biological designation as either female or male.

Front 2

Gender role

Back 2

The beliefs and behaviors a person acts out in accordance with their thoughts about being a male or female person.

Front 3

Gender identity

Back 3

One's self-perceptions as either a female or male person according to the customs and traditions of a particular culture.

Front 4

Attribution theory

Back 4

A psychological theory that attempts to explain why people behave as they do. Some attributions emphasize the importance of environmental expectations while others focus on the individual's own characteristics.

Front 5

Gamete

Back 5

A sex cell; sperm and ova are gametes.

Front 6

Somatic cells

Back 6

Body cells, as distinguished from gametes.

Front 7

Autosome

Back 7

A chromosome that is not a sex chromosome.

Front 8

Sex chromosomes

Back 8

The twenty-third pair of human chromosomes, which determine one's genetic sex as either female or male.

Front 9

Gonads

Back 9

Sex glands; a woman's gonads are her ovaries; a man's gonads are his testes.

Front 10

Hormonal sex

Back 10

An individual's sexual characteristics resulting from the predominant secretion of testosterone from the testes or estrogens from the ovaries.

Front 11

Hormone

Back 11

A chemical substance secreted by an endocrine gland into the bloodstream that travels to some distant target organ in the body and changes its activity.

Front 12

Endocrine glands

Back 12

Glands that secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream. Endocrine glands are discrete bundles of tissue closely linked to the circulatory system.

Front 13

Steroids

Back 13

A class of chemical compounds sharing the same general molecular structure. Sex hormones are steroids.

Front 14

Estrogens

Back 14

A family of eight different female hormones that are responsible for a woman's secondary sexual characteristics, menstrual cycle, and fertility.

Front 15

Progesterone

Back 15

A hormone secreted by the corpus luteum that prepares the endometrium for the implantation of a fertilized ovum. Along with estrogen, it coordinates the regulation of the menstrual cycle and the maintenance of pregnancy.

Front 16

Androgens

Back 16

A family of male sex hormones secreted by the testes in men and the adrenal glands in both women and men.

Front 17

Testosterone

Back 17

Male sex hormone. Testosterone is a form of androgen.

Front 18

Congenital virilizing adrenal hyperplasia

Back 18

A condition in which a female human embryo is exposed to androgens and develops male-like genitalia as a result.

Front 19

Androgen insensitivity syndrome

Back 19

A chromosomal abnormality in which the body cells of a genetic male are insensitive to androgens, testosterone in particular, and as a consequence the male dvelops normal-appearing female characteristics; also called testicular feminization.

Front 20

Androgyny

Back 20

Having the psycological attributes of both females and males.

Front 21

Social learning theory

Back 21

A theory that asserts that learning can occur vicariously by observing the behavior of others. Imitation, behavior modeling, and social skills training are all aspects of social learning theory.

Front 22

Self-concept

Back 22

People's view of themselves based on the degree to which their perceived self approximates their ideal self.

Front 23

Perceived self

Back 23

People's current, honest, undistorted perception of themselves.

Front 24

Ideal self

Back 24

People's image of themselves when they have developed into the individual they would like to become.

Front 25

Cognitive-developmental theory

Back 25

A theory concerning the way children learn traditional sex roles. This theory emphasizes the importance of the feedback children receive from their peers for acting like females or males and how this information guides their social interactions in the future.

Front 26

Gender-schema theory

Back 26

A theory of gender role development in which children think and act upon a culture's notions of how females and males should behave. The feedback they get from their peers and/or adults may confirm or deny the degree to which their behavior conforms to these norms.

Front 27

Gender role conflict

Back 27

The feeling or belief that one's gender identity does not conform to the expectations of one's culture.

Front 28

Sociality

Back 28

Interpersonal attraction of a nonsexual nature.

Front 29

Sexual objectification

Back 29

The impersonal focusing of sexual thoughts, feelings, and actions on an individual, disregarding their individual, unique attributes as a woman or a man.

Front 30

Ethnocentrism

Back 30

The belief that the standards, norms, and customs of one's own culture are right and superior to those of other cultures.