Differences Between Sexual Orientation And Behavior

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The American Psychological Association (APA) defines sexual orientation as being “distinguished by an enduring emotional, romantic, sexual or affectionate attraction to individuals of a particular gender.” It is comprised of three aspects which include, heterosexuality, sexual attraction to the opposite gender, bisexuality in which people are attracted to both men and women and finally homosexuality where the attraction is between the same gender. Sexual orientation and behavior is different because it involves how a person feels and their perception on sexuality. Sexual behavior on the other hand, is the act of sex does not always express true feelings. In certain cultures homosexuality is a part of life but it is not tolerated by several churches. …show more content…

Homosexuality was declared to be a pathological disease in the late 1800’s and so people who engaged in this kind of behavior was seen to be rather sick than immoral Many studies have been conducted to determine if sexual orientation is determined at birth or if it is a product of culture and society. Ellis (1901) submitted that an individual was born with their own tendencies to gravitate towards a certain gender and even made note that these kind in particular were able to contribute greatly to society. Sigmund Freud in his Psycho Analytic Theory posits that “all individuals were born with bisexual tendencies and heterosexuality and homosexuality both arose from early childhood interactions with their parents or other individuals.” This paper submits that sexual orientation is not determined at

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