GENDER DIFFERENCES IN SEXUAL INTEREST

A common gender stereotype is that males are more interested than fema les in sex for purely physical reasons. Sociobiologists claim that thi s difference is biologically determined. In contrast, many sociologist s and anthropologists claim that the difference is cultural The debate about nature versus nurture regarding sexual interest has been long-s tanding without resolution. We propose a biosocial model that integrat es data about nature and nurture to show (i) how several biological fa ctors tilt males and females in different directions related to sexual interest, and (ii) how numerous social factors influence the way the biological tilts can be redirected in countless different ways as indi viduals grow up in subsets of their culture and subculture. This inter actionist approach does not down-play the importance of either biologi cal or social factors: It avoids nature-nurture debates that pit natur e against nurture by showing how biological and social factors act in concert, combining their influences. The resulting work contributes to both the theoretical and practical literature, not only showing how s exology can deal with issues of nature and nurture but also providing information useful to people who are troubled about common gender diff erences in sexual interest.