Gender and Sexuality As A Psychosocial Issue

Gender and Sexuality as a
Psychosocial Issue
Lesson 8
UNIT III. PSYCHOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE IN GENDER AND SEXUALITY
Lesson Objectives
• Define the term psychosocial
• Discuss the psychosocial

dimension of gender and sexuality
• Reflect upon one’s responsibility in

ensuring psychosocial wellness in
the aspect of gender and
development
Introduction
• In the previous sessions, we discussed about the biological

dimension of sexuality
• Human person has biological mechanisms for sexual growth and

reproduction
• Reproductive mechanisms are interpreted by societies
• Differentiated social standards for behavior and expectations

Human female is capable of bearing a child
• Society interprets this capacity

as associated to womanhood
• Fulfillment of reproductive role

as an expectation among
women.
Human male has a relatively larger muscular-
skeletal frame
• Society expects the human

male to perform the productive
role
• Associated this role to men

• While there are distinct physiological differences
• Much of the capabilities except those involved in reproduction can

be performed by either sexes
Both can perform child-rearing roles
Both can engage and succeed in the world of
work
Limits are only set by social expectations
• These scenarios exemplify that much about gender and sexuality
is biological and physiological
• But also psychological and social

Psychosocial perspective
• This perspective of exploring and understanding human sexuality

in the lens of psychological social processes is referred to as
psychosocial perspective
What does psychosocial mean?
Psychosocial
• An encompassing term
• Comprised by two primary aspects: Psychological and Social
• Psychological - pertains to anything associated with mental

process and behavior
• Social- pertains to anything associated with human relationships,

connection and interaction
Psychological Aspect
• Anchor itself on the field of psychology
• Psychology- field of science which concerns itself with how people

think and feel and how thoughts and feelings interact and lead to
behavior
3 primary psychological domains
• Affect- affective domain - pertains to people’s emotions and

feelings
• Behavior- behavioral domain - pertains to people’s actions- both

observable (overt) or not readily observable (covert)
• Cognition- cognitive domain- pertains to people’s thought

processes such as memory, perception, and information
processing
• Hence, to say that gender and sexuality have a psychological
dimension is to note that our sexual behaviors , as well as gender-
related behaviors, originate from what we sense, think and feel
Social aspect
• Primarily anchors itself on the field of sociology and allied fields

such as social psychology
• Sociology is a field of science which concerns itself with the human

person’s realities and experiences as part of groups and
institutions including the structures and functions of these
institutions and the dynamics of human relationships within them.
Understanding the Psychosocial Dimension
• There are many ways through which the psychosocial dimension of

gender and sexuality can be understood and explained.
• Our experience of gender and sexuality is generally a relational

experience
• Relational because while as individuals, we have our own affect,

cognition and behavior to be aware of, we are also viewing ourselves
in relation to others who also have their own personal preoccupations.
Communicate.
• Think about the following and share your thoughts about them
• My strengths
• Areas where I can improve
• My aspirations in life
• How I see myself

Awareness
• Awareness- our conscious understanding of something
• As individuals, we are in constant process towards self-awareness
• Who am I? What am I? What do I like/dislike? What are my

strengths and weakness? What motivates me? What are my
aspirations?
In the context of gender and sexuality
• What am I physiologically?
• Am I happy with what I am?
• How do I genuinely see myself?
• How do I feel about myself as a sexual being?

We are social beings
• We live our lives in relation to others
• We try to understand ourselves more, we are also in constant process towards other-
awareness
• Understanding others
• What is the other’s motivations, preferences and aspirations?
• Where am I positioned in her or his life, vis-a-vis, where is she/he positioned in my
life?
• How different and or similar am I to others?
Share to the class
(In a Relationship)
How did you meet?
How did your relationship progress?
Intimacy and relationship
• In certain situations, when two people recognise and become aware of

each other, they decide to keep close distance in each other’s lives,
share their personal bubbles, and allow frequency of interaction
between them.
• This forges some form of human relationship- a bond formed between

two or more people, manifested through communication and interaction
• Form of friendship, romantic relationships, or others

• While in these relationships, we share resources and emotions
• We constantly aim to further understand our own selves and we try

to understand others and be understood by them.
• This process of knowing others and allowing others to know us is

intimacy
As social beings
• We also learn from our own experiences and from the lesson taught to us
by those who have come before us.
• How we behave in relation to other people, with due consideration to

social expectations related to our gender, and how we make choices to
balance out personal goals and social goals might be passed on to us
through education and other cultural preoccupations
• This process by which we learn cultural norms and traditions -

socialisation
As rational beings
• We are also capable of making sense of our experiences vis-a-vis

the influences of our environments and integrate these
interpretations into our own choice.
How am I in the following psychosocial aspects
of my life?
Awareness of self and others Intimacy and relationships
Learning and socialisation Purpose and meaning

Well-being as a Psychosocial Goal
• The ultimate goal of understanding the psychosocial aspects of our

experiences is well-being
• A state of satisfaction, meaning and purpose

There are two sides to well-being
• Objective well-being
• Subjective well-being
Objective Well-being
• Well-being that is observed, outward and evaluated through

the presence or absence of particular elements in our
environment
• Does the physical environment allow expression of diversity?

Does the physical infrastructure mitigate any possibility of
abuse and violence related to gender?
Subjective well-being
• Personal experience of satisfaction, meaning and purpose
• Subjective because it pertains to our own appreciation of how well

we are.
• Sometimes, even when the environment fully provides for all our
needs, we remain unsatisfied
• Low sense of subjective well-being

• There are also moments where the environment has shortcomings
but we are at peace and satisfied within.
• A close word to also mean subjective well-being is happiness.

• Some question to ask are as follows:
• how far is your sense of satisfaction about the various areas of

your life as a sexual being?
• Is your purpose as a person clear to you and if not yet, what are
you doing to clarify this purpose
Dimensions of Well-being
• Based on what well-being means, we can see that there are

various dimensions into it.
The following are just the primary dimensions of well-being which we
must look into when trying to understand the psychosocial condition of a
person
• Physical- physical/biological health
• Emotional- positive feelings; mood stability
• Mental- clarity of mind; healthy thought processes
• Material- available and adequate financial and other resources
• Social- healthy and positive interaction and relationships with

others
Activity
• Illustrate the environment of a person who is psycho socially well.
• Consider each aspect of well-being

Summary
• One of the essential elements of our gender and sexuality is the

psychosocial dimension. Aside from upholding human dignity and
human rights, one of the ultimate goals of our discussions of
gender and sexuality is to ensure well-being among people of
different genders.
• Understanding our psychosocial needs and concerns as well as

various elements of psychosocial conditions as humans is
necessary
End

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Gender and Sexuality as a

• Define the term psychosocial

• Discuss the psychosocial

• Reflect upon one’s responsibility in

• In the previous sessions, we discussed about the biological

• Human person has biological mechanisms for sexual growth and

• Reproductive mechanisms are interpreted by societies

• Differentiated social standards for behavior and expectations

• Society interprets this capacity

• Fulfillment of reproductive role

• Society expects the human

• Associated this role to men

• Much of the capabilities except those involved in reproduction can

• But also psychological and social

• This perspective of exploring and understanding human sexuality

• Comprised by two primary aspects: Psychological and Social

• Psychological - pertains to anything associated with mental

• Social- pertains to anything associated with human relationships,

• Anchor itself on the field of psychology

• Psychology- field of science which concerns itself with how people

• Affect- affective domain - pertains to people’s emotions and

• Behavior- behavioral domain - pertains to people’s actions- both

• Cognition- cognitive domain- pertains to people’s thought

• Primarily anchors itself on the field of sociology and allied fields

• Sociology is a field of science which concerns itself with the human

• There are many ways through which the psychosocial dimension of

• Our experience of gender and sexuality is generally a relational

• Relational because while as individuals, we have our own affect,

• Areas where I can improve

• How I see myself

• Awareness- our conscious understanding of something

• As individuals, we are in constant process towards self-awareness

• Who am I? What am I? What do I like/dislike? What are my

• Am I happy with what I am?

• How do I genuinely see myself?

• How do I feel about myself as a sexual being?

• In certain situations, when two people recognise and become aware of

• This forges some form of human relationship- a bond formed between

• Form of friendship, romantic relationships, or others

• We constantly aim to further understand our own selves and we try

• This process of knowing others and allowing others to know us is

• How we behave in relation to other people, with due consideration to

• This process by which we learn cultural norms and traditions -

• We are also capable of making sense of our experiences vis-a-vis

Awareness of self and others Intimacy and relationships

Learning and socialisation Purpose and meaning

• The ultimate goal of understanding the psychosocial aspects of our

• A state of satisfaction, meaning and purpose

• Well-being that is observed, outward and evaluated through

• Does the physical environment allow expression of diversity?

• Personal experience of satisfaction, meaning and purpose

• Subjective because it pertains to our own appreciation of how well

• Low sense of subjective well-being

• A close word to also mean subjective well-being is happiness.

• how far is your sense of satisfaction about the various areas of

• Based on what well-being means, we can see that there are

• Physical- physical/biological health

• Emotional- positive feelings; mood stability

• Mental- clarity of mind; healthy thought processes