biology

Human male sexuality

Human male sexuality is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Human male sexuality rather than just read about it. In short: Human male sexuality encompasses a wide variety of feelings and behaviors. Men's feelings of attraction may be caused by various physical and social traits of their potential partner.

Key takeaways

Human male sexuality belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Human male sexuality to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Human male sexuality from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Human male sexuality encompasses a wide variety of feelings and behaviors. Men's feelings of attraction may be caused by various physical and social traits of their potential partner. Men's sexual behavior can be affected by many factors, including evolved predispositions, individual personality, upbringing, and culture. While most men are heterosexual, and attracted only to women, there are significant minorities of homosexual men and varying degrees of bisexual men. Homosexual males are more common than homosexual females.

Sexual attraction

Physical factors

Research indicates that men tend to be attracted to young women with bodily symmetry. Facial symmetry, femininity, and averageness are also linked with attractiveness. Men typically find female breasts attractive and this holds true for a variety of cultures. The pigmentation of nipples and breasts appears to be the most important quality of breast attractiveness. Men rated women with dark nipples and dark areola as significantly more attractive than those with light-colored nipples or areola. Breasts of medium cup size were found to be the most attractive, however authors noted that men focused primarily on the coloration of nipples and areola rather than breast size. One study found a historical preference for lighter-skinned women. However, the accuracy of this research has been questioned by more recent research, which found a preference for women with darker skin tones. Experimental studies show that White men are more attracted to women with tanned and light-brown skin, rather than pale women. Women in the West believe that men are more attracted to women with tan skin, which likely explains why women are much more likely to tan than men, according to a 2017 study. There is a direct correlation between being tan and self-perceived attractiveness among young women. Skin color contrast has been linked to male sexual preferences across many cultures. Women tend to have darker eyes and lips than men, especially relative to the rest of their facial features, and this attribute has been associated with female attractiveness and femininity, yet it also decreases male attractiveness according to one study. Women may use cosmetics such as lipstick and eye shadow to increase their facial color contrast, or to increase the apparent distance between their eyes and eyebrows. A 2009 study found that East Asian people had more facial skin contrast than White people, owing to their consistently darker eyes.

Women with a relatively low waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are considered more attractive. The exact ratio varies among cultures, depending on the WHR of the women in the local culture. In Western cultures, a WHR of 0.70 is preferred. Other physical factors of attraction include full lips, facial femininity, long, lustrous hair, low body mass index, and low waist circumference. Preference for a slim or a plump body build is culturally variable, but in a predictable manner. In cultures where food is scarce, plumpness is associated with higher status and is more attractive, but the reverse is true in wealthy cultures. Men generally prefer their wives to be younger than they are, but by how much exactly varies between cultures. Older men prefer greater age differences, while teenage males prefer females slightly older than they are. The exact degree to which physical appearance is considered important in selecting a long-term mate varies between cultures.

Non-physical factors When choosing long-term partners, both men and women desire those who are intelligent, kind, understanding, and healthy. They also show a preference for partners who have similar values, attitudes, personality, and religious beliefs. The importance of premarital chastity varies a great deal according to culture, as well as the religious beliefs and sexual orientation of the individual. In Western culture, the importance and value of chastity has generally declined among heterosexual individuals. Among 18 different attributes, chastity was rated 10th most valuable in 1939, but only 17th most valuable in 1990.

Sexual behavior Many factors influence men's sexual behavior. These include evolved tendencies, such as a greater interest in casual sex, as well as individual and social factors related to upbringing, personality, and relationship status.

Interest in casual sex Compared to women, men have a greater interest in casual sex. On average, men express a greater desire for a variety of sex partners, let less time elapse before seeking sex, lower their standards dramatically when pursuing short-term mating, have more sexual fantasies and more fantasies involving a variety of sex partners, report having a higher sex drive, find cues to sexual exploitability to be attractive for short-term mating, experience more sexual regret over missed sexual opportunities, have a larger number of extramarital affairs and are more likely to seek hookups and friends with benefits, and visit prostitutes more often. This has been often attributed to safety and social concerns when it comes to casual sex for women, and differences disappear when risk is accounted for and pleasure is guaranteed.

Upbringing and personality One study has several factors that influence the age of first sexual intercourse among youth aged 13–18. Those from families with both parents present, from high socioeconomic backgrounds, who performed better at school, were more religious, who had higher parental expectations, and felt like their parents care, showed much lower levels of sexual activity across all age groups in the study. In contrast, those with higher levels of body pride showed higher levels of sexual activity.

Sociosexuality Males who are in a committed relationship have a restricted sociosexual orientation, and will have different sexual behavior compared to males who have an unrestricted sociosexual orientation. Males with a restricted sociosexual orientation will be less willing to have sex outside of their committed relationship and behave according to their desire for commitment and emotional closeness with their partner. Sociosexually restricted males are less likely to approach females who have lower waist-to-hip ratios (0.68–0.72), generally rated as more physically attractive.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Human male sexuality

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Human male sexuality claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Human male sexuality before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Human male sexuality ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Human male sexuality

In research: Human male sexuality appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Human male sexuality in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Human male sexuality is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Evolutionary psychology, Human sexuality, Male bisexuality, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Human male sexuality outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Human male sexuality in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Human male sexuality means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Human male sexuality out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Human male sexuality in simple terms?

Human male sexuality encompasses a wide variety of feelings and behaviors. Men's feelings of attraction may be caused by various physical and social traits of their potential partner.

Why does Human male sexuality matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Human male sexuality?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Human male sexuality.