Critical Thinking & Psych Research Topics

Examining the rules of sexual attraction

This article examines why people are attracted to one another. This quote I found very useful because it looked at attraction in a critical way from different points of view. "Freudians point the finger at potty training, evolutionary psychologists fixate on hip-to-waist ratios, while neuroscientists attribute all to hormonal cocktails." The waist-hip ratio is the theory that people are attracted to others the have physical characteristics that indicate their health, but how can this theory be true for majority of men? It was interesting to find the facts from Mr. Swami's experiment at the University at Westminster. He has tested over 2,000 men since 2005. From his experiments he has found that the waist-hip ratio is not true for these men. Men also factor in relationship status, history, what the women look for, their shyness and many other factor, in being attracted to a woman. Could this be just for Westminster, and that's why these facts are found? Also, it's cool to see that the ideal physical characteristics changes with the culture. In Africa, men are more attracted to obese women because of the rate of AIDS there and how the disease relates with skinner women, but is this true for men with AIDS also? David Brooks wrote on the subject in The New York Times. "Consciousness has come to be seen as this relatively weak driver, riding atop an organ, the brain, it scarcely understands." But how can David Brooks show this is true? If consciousness has been proved to be a huge factor in history how can this change? Prof. Pfaus says that when women choose their partners, many may simply be revisiting a catalogue of features -- facial or otherwise -- that remind them of former lovers. He said that in the future, oxytocin might be useful in salvaging crumbling marriages by stimulating the bonds some humans experience after sex. How can Prof. Pfaus relate this to a majority of women? How is this true if his experiment was only performed at one university?


Growing research suggests being gay is not 'a choice'

"Compared with straight men, gay men are more likely to be left-handed, to be the younger siblings of older brothers, and to have hair that whorls in a counterclockwise direction." Has this just been tested in one culture is this why it is shown to be true? Was this experiment testing gay men all over the world or in one area? Is this just coincisende or fact? What about other straight men with thse traits? Sure, some gay men share these random, not important traits is this actually telling us anything? The question examined in thi artice is the debate over whether men are born gay or become gay. Psychologists want to know that if young boys are taught that it's okay to marry other boys, will there be an increase in same sex marriages. So can this prove that it's not biological factors that influence boys to be gay? "CNN polls had found that a majority of Americans believed gay people could change their sexual orientation if they chose to; it was only last year that a majority for the first time said homosexuality was an inborn trait. This is opinion, which shows actual informaton that is valid that could prove a point on sexuality. On the other hand they found that it could be culural factors because"Evidence of that, said Michael Bailey, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, comes from studies of genetically male infants born with malformed or ambiguous genitals. In many such cases, surgeons would construct a vagina, and instruct parents to raise the child as a girl, with no knowledge of his medical history. As adults, those prenatally male/postnatally female people were virtually all attracted to women, Bailey said" Could this be just becuase these boys were meant to be gay before the were born?

Domestic violence may raise kids' abuse risk

"About 40 percent of the women said they experienced aggression or violent acts, such as hitting, kicking, insults, isolation, or forced sexual acts, with their current partner, the investigators report in the American Journal of Public Health." Only 40% said this so how can this be a proven fact? "Intimate partner aggression and violence "impacts the whole family, raising health risks for children in the home as well as adult victims," Dr. Catherine A. Taylor told Reuters Health." How does this impact the whole family? What way was this tested and was it accurate?