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The Arc of Life pp 41–53Cite as

Development of Human Sociosexual Behavior

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Abstract

Sociosexual behavior can be defined as behavior that entails the movements of sexual behavior (e.g., mounting) but occurs in wider social contexts (e.g., intercourse, play, reconciliation). An important goal of research on human evolution and health across the life course is to synthesize the limited data available on human infant and juvenile sociosexual behavior. To many, the subject of this chapter may seem like a non-starter, both because it is morally and religiously off limits to some, and also because of the conventional scholarly view that sexuality appears relatively suddenly at puberty. As we illustrate here, human sociosexual behavior has a start early in development, and an evolutionary perspective can highlight adaptive and health-related aspects of its patterning. Toward those ends, we first discuss the evolution of the human life history, highlighting the early ages of weaning and extended juvenile phases, and how those provide expanded opportunities for sociosexual play. We consider these aspects of the human life history in comparative context, drawing upon nonhuman primate examples of sociosexual development. We then review the scant available data on human subadult (including infants, nursing children, and weaned pre-adolescent juveniles) sociosexual behavior, also pointing toward health-related implications of this body of work.

Keywords

  • Childhood
  • Maternal care
  • Ontogeny
  • Physical aggression
  • Sex differences
  • Sex differentiation
  • Sexuality

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA

    Peter B. Gray

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd, Orlando, FL, 32816, USA

    Matthew H. McIntyre

Authors
  1. Peter B. Gray
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  2. Matthew H. McIntyre
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter B. Gray .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland

    Grazyna Jasienska

  2. School of Communication, Institute of Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies, Emerson College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Diana S. Sherry

  3. Department of Biological Sciences and WWAMI Medical Education Program, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA

    Donna J. Holmes

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Gray, P.B., McIntyre, M.H. (2017). Development of Human Sociosexual Behavior. In: Jasienska, G., Sherry, D., Holmes, D. (eds) The Arc of Life. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-4038-7_4

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