As predictably as nose picking in daycares, people are fascinated, entertained and influenced by sex; hence this column and the wanton use of random and unrelated sexual content in advertising. We are, as a species, easily amused. To further sate our appetite for smut, there are those who take this ubiquitous perversion to a professional level: Sex Researchers. (Ha. You thought I was going to say porn stars, didn’t you?).

From Freud, to Alfred Kinsey, to the University of Lethbridge’s very own research team, social scientists have been exploring human psychology and physiology at one of its most basic functions for many years. Everything from general functioning, like mapping the typical sexual response, to disorders like erectile dysfunction or female anorgasmia, to deviant pathologies like pedophilia, have been put under the microscope. Researchers at the University of Lethbridge have been doing some great, cutting-edge work with female sexual arousal issues, among other things.

Kelly Suschinsky, a PhD student who works under Dr. Martin Lalumiere, is currently working with a device called vaginal photoplethysmography to measure arousal in women. It’s a clear, rod-shaped device that measures blood flow to the vagina. Blood flow is considered to be a precursor to lubrication in women and thereby a reasonable way to determine arousal, albeit indirectly (as researchers have yet to find an acceptable method to measure lubrication). By using photoplethysmography, researchers can figure out what circumstances lead to physical arousal in women. Consistent with other researchers, Suschinsky has discovered that women tend to become aroused by any sort of sexual stimuli in their environment, regardless of the details. (unlike men, who show clear preferences for whatever aligns with their sexual orientation). These findings lend further credence to the idea that men have much more rigid sexual patterns than women do.

Additionally, Suschinsky – among others in the field – draws on evolutionary psychology to explain sexual behaviors and responses. Evolutionary psychology is the idea that human psychology can be explained as a result of natural selection, or sexual selection. So, for example, we are born with an innate disposition to learn language – indeed, children pick up whatever language(s) those around them are speaking, without instruction. It is hypothesized that this ability evolved as those children who learned to speak survived long enough to reproduce more often than their silent counterparts.

In terms of sexual selection, whichever traits lead to successful copulation will emerge stronger. Example: the ridiculous plumage on the peacock – not really the best survival strategy when you think about it. Running around with a giant, cumbersome fan attached to your backside makes you a pretty good target for predators, no? But the peahen will choose a mate with the prettiest feathers. Thus, getting laid triumphs over common sense yet again; and peacocks continue to look ridiculous.

In reference to sexual behaviours observed across many species, evolutionary psychology explains away phenomena like promiscuity. Previously, it was thought that males are inherently more promiscuous than females (the Bateman theory), but recent research has shown this to be patently false. Females of many species, when given the chance, will mate as many times as possible, with as many different partners. In some species, like the stick insect, the males will follow a female around after they’ve mated to prevent her from mating with anyone else. Jealousy, competition and promiscuity flourish in the animal kingdom as the mechanisms for propagating one’s genetic material, not unlike the mating rituals you can see on any given weekend in the bars.

Find out more about the University of Lethbridge’s psychology research or get involved:

http://www.uleth.ca/fas/psy/index.html

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