Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

How Sex and Death Anxiety Link to Christianity How would you feel if you learned a friend or close relative decided to have sex to help with expenses? Earlier today, a headline news story reported on the low rates Greek women get for sex-- some just get enough to buy a meal.  Christians often show an interest in rescuing people from sex trafficking. But not all sex workers are trafficked. And not all sex work is illegal. But sex work has a long history of condemnation and in many places sex workers are at high risk of harm. Sex work is just one example of the sex-linked issues confronting Christians who want to show compassion but may be put off by some aspects of the lives of the people they wish to help. For many Christians, sex evokes disgust. The leaders of a group I attend on Sundays decided to study Richard Beck ’s book, Unclean . Beck takes readers on a journey through the psychology of disgust and shows how we emotionally respond to disgusting experie...

Cross & Heart 2023 Geoffrey Sutton and Bing AI Messing with Malevolent Metaphors Exploring the role of metaphors in Christian teaching about purity and sanctity. As a child I learned that sin made my heart black. I learned this lesson by means of small plastic hearts dangling from a chain. Hearts are red, white and black. You start with a black heart. All have sinned. Red hearts mean Jesus' blood cleanses, White hearts mean we're all cleaned up. For many Christians, white is good , pure, clean and holy. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Black is bad , evil, and linked to sin. We’ll never measure up—the good things we do are but filthy rags. Outer darkness is where you go if you die without Jesus. So what's the problem with such metaphors? Is it possible that metaphors, which glorify whiteness and link blackness to sin influence, racist attitudes? Do religious metaphors guide our thinking about people? Metaphors My task the week I wrote ...

CHRISTIAN FAITH, CAMPUS SEX, AND CONSENT Christian colleges and universities will face additional tests of faith this fall as matters of sex are sure to attract more attention than usual. The first and only two “Council News” stories on today’s (August 15, 2015) CCCU (Council for Christian Colleges and Universities) web page were recent and sex-related issues (contraceptive mandate, same-sex marriage). In the last few years, laws, policies, and campaigns have focused on the problems of sex or sex-linked behavior in new and nuanced ways. After focusing attention on the problems of sexual assault in the military, President Obama highlighted the problem of sexual assault on college campuses . A few days ago, NPR reported on the big business of programs designed to address the issue of sexual assault on campus. As I read the story, I couldn’t help but wonder how any short educational program could possibly produce change in human sexual behavior. Fortunately, others are...

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...