24 



Cviltiiral Deterniiiiaiits of Sexual Behavior 



Margaret Mead, Ph.D., 



ASSOCIATE CURATOR OF ETHNOLOGY, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF 

 NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK 



I. Introduction 1433 



II. Methods 1434 



III. Materials (Selected Cultural Pat- 



terns) 1437 



A. The Mountain Arapesh of New 



Guinea 1438 



B. The Manus of the Admiralty Is- 



lands 1441 



C. The Siriono of Eastern Bolivia. . . .1443 



D. The Balinese 1446 



E. The Lepchas of Sikkim 1448 



IV. Psychologic Sex Gender and Sex 



Role Assignment 1451 



V. Intensity and Duration of Sex 



Activity 1455 



VI. Cognitive Rehearsal 1456 



VII. Range of Patterning 1460 



VIII. The Study of Sex Behavior in Com- 

 plex Modern Societies 1472 



IX. References 1476 



I. Introduction 



The authors of the preceding chapters on 

 reproductive behavior (Hampson and 

 Harapson, Lehrman, Money, Young) have 

 presented material from which several gen- 

 eral conclusions may be deduced. Among 

 the vertebrates as a whole, it is evident that 

 genetic, experiential or psychologic, and 

 physiologic (particularly hormonal) factors 

 |)articipate in the regulation of reproductive 

 l)ehavior. The pattern of behavior displayed 

 by adults is the product of the interaction 

 of these factors from the embryonic period 

 into adulthood, but at no time is the con- 

 tribution of the several factors equal. Dur- 

 ing the embryonic and fetal periods genetic 

 factors and fetal morphogenic substances 

 thought to be secreted by the embryonic 

 gonads are believed to be the active agents 

 in the determination and differentiation of 

 all the tissues conccrncfl with soxualitv, in- 



cluding the neural tissues mediating sexual 

 behavior (Phoenix, Goy, Gerall and Young, 

 1959 ) . The suggestion that in man the effects 

 of these substances on the tissues mediating 

 sexual behavior may be overridden by the 

 manner of rearing is contained in the chap- 

 ters by Hampson and Hampson and Money, 

 but it may be equally significant that in at 

 least some lower mammals as well, ex- 

 periential factors help to mold the patterns 

 of sexual behavior displayed after the at- 

 tainment of adulthood (Young, 1957). This 

 suggests that phylogenetically the apparent 

 rise of the experiential factor to dominance 

 started early. After birth or shortly after 

 birth in lower mammals (the limits have not 

 yet been determined), gonadal hormones 

 cease to be organizational and become 

 purely activational. The extent to which 

 they are activational in man is still equiv- 

 ocal. Most colleagues assign a minor role, 

 if any, to them and hold to the view that the 

 dominant factor is psychic (see chaj^ter by 

 Money). 



If this thumbnail sketch may be further 

 abbreviated, it is apparent that experiential 

 or psychologic factors act at two points, the 

 degree depending on the phylogenetic posi- 

 tion of the species. Once an animal is born 

 and becomes subject to them, they modify 

 the character of the soma established during 

 embryonic and fetal development by genie 

 factors and hormones. After the attainment 

 of adulthood, they, rather than the hor- 

 mones alone, give force to the sexual be- 

 havior that is exhibited. 



To this concept, anthropologists have 

 much to contribute. This chapter will con- 

 cern itself with their findings from cross- 



1433 



