Development of Human Sexuality in Adulthood
Abstract
Despite people experiencing sexual interest, experience, and sexual maturity during their adolescent phase of their lives, it is during adulthood that sexuality ultimately unfolds. Human beings begin to synthesize their sexual orientation, and take up their first long-term and often mature, sexual relationships. This research paper discusses the process of attaining sexual maturity, compares and contrasts coupled and uncoupled adults, discusses sexuality in marriage and how sexual patterns change over a variety of factors, and finally discusses aging in relation to sexuality. Since the development of sexuality is a lifelong process, the paper employs a lifespan perspective to analyze sexuality in adulthood and the elderly.
Development of Human Sexuality in Adulthood
One of the most critical driving factors behind a person’s feelings, behaviors, and thoughts is sexuality. It is the means upon which human beings reproduce, represent themselves, and orient their attraction to others. Sexuality begins at infancy, develops into the adolescence stage, and later into adulthood and old age. Sexual development is related to age and is endogenous because of a solid bearing by the human genome. The developmental changes are translated as a general arrangement of anatomical structures and physiological skills, prompting a widespread condition of organic development – with due thought of sex contrasts, a requirement for wholesome and other ecological support, and individual varieties (Moshman, 2014).
For example, reproduction marks the transition into adolescence, and children at this stage are deemed to be sexually mature. On the other hand, teens and youths in most societies have been expected to function at adult levels for most of our human history. They have justifiably been considered as young adults. Therefore, concerning sexual development, there are no significant disparities between adolescents and adults. Adolescence can be viewed as a stage of different discoveries within oneself, while adulthood is where these discoveries are cemented into mature and stable concepts. For instance, according to data from the NSSHB (2010), 43% of adolescent males and 37% of adolescent females had solo masturbation as the most prevalent sexual activity. However, adults experience sexual unfolding with partnered sexual behavior as the standard type of sexual activity (Hyde & Demamater, 2012). Physical and emotional factors such as marriage, infidelity, childbearing, and aging affect the development of adult sexuality in varied ways and lead to significant psychological and physical changes in both men and women.
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