Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

  Why was she so popular? Psychology and a British Princess Princess Diana died 31 August 1997. It’s not surprising why we British might be interested in the story. What is surprising to me is her popularity in America from the wedding to decades after her death. According to Pew Research, close to 90% of Americans followed the news of Princess Diana’s death and 54% reported following the story closely. “No other story this year has come close ( 1997 ).” A Newsweek story a few days ago caught my eye, “How Princess Diana Wanted to Move to America with Harry and William,” wrote Jack Royston ( 2021, Aug 24 ). Apparently, she spoke to friends and relatives about moving to the US—a place where she could get away from the press of the press. One remembered quote refers to her belief that there’s no class system or establishment in the US. Whatever her thoughts, it appears she felt welcomed by Americans. And of course, her son married an American and makes news from time to time....

Sexual Response & Self-Control Sexual responsiveness is my third of three posts looking at the psychology of sex with a view toward understanding variations in sexuality and what research findings might mean for religious leaders who offer guidance to people about right sexual conduct.   In addition to research about sexual responsiveness, I look at self-control, offer some thoughts, and suggest questions for those concerned with moral implications. How do psychological scientists study sexual responding? Some sex researchers present videos of sexual activity to volunteers in laboratory settings. They obtain physiological measures of sexual responding along with subjective reports of the experience. Information about sexual interest and visual responding can be obtained from eye-tracking technology and the time spent viewing a stimulus. Brain imaging can be used to identify which areas of the brain respond to sexual stimuli. Researchers measur...

 Sexual  Attraction In my previous post, I wrote about sexual orientation . This week I take a look at factors that influence sexual attraction. I'll take a look at recent research and consider how the findings might relate to the concerns of people working to integrate their religious faith with beliefs about sexuality. Over the years I have consulted with organizations. Not surprisingly, Christians who supervise housing (e.g., colleges, group homes, residential treatment programs) express concern about appropriate sexuality. They focus most on keeping men and women apart. Despite a common occurrence, it is rare for a Christian organization to discuss same sex activity within their residences or among coworkers. It does not seem to occur to many that two persons of the same sex may find each other sexually attractive. The leaders would not think of assigning a man and a woman to the same room but they do not consider the assignment of two same-sex oriented persons...

Sexual Orientation Sexual Identity Sexual Attraction Christians in the United States continue to write and speak about sexual orientation and same-sex relationships as if condoning or condemning same-sex relationships were the keys to Christian identity. The terms referring to human sexuality can interfere with communication when people use the terms inconsistently or imprecisely. In addition, new research changes our understanding of human sexuality such that older terms may carry meanings that are no longer substantiated by evidence. I take a look at some terms and cite a study to illustrate the complexity of sexuality. Given the confusion and misinformation, I hope to return to the topic. Sex  In the context of identity, sex refers to a person’s biological status as male, female, or intersex. Intersex is a biological state that includes an infrequent set of features linked to being male or female. The common indicators of biological sex include external gen...