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Macro Theory in Sexual Science

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Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities

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Abstract

The chapter opens with a brief overview of the early years of sexual science and sociology in Europe and America and then looks at more recent theoretical work in the sociology of sexual science. The interrelationship of macro and micro theory is presented and then there is a comparison of two macro studies of sexuality in the U.S. One of those studies is a national research study examining the way autonomy effects changes in premarital sexual permissiveness and the other is a descriptive national study with major findings on a wide variety of sexual behaviors. There is also discussion of two cross cultural studies—one proposes a theory linking sexuality to three basic structural aspects of human societies: power, ideology and kinship and tests this theory using a data base of 186 non industrial cultures. The other is a macro theoretical study of 43 cultures explaining the growth of post-industrial societies that stress well being and quality of life more than economic security. There is a brief coverage of three very recent theoretical articles each of which examined both biological and sociological theories of sexuality. The possibility of joint sociological and biological theories of human sexuality is discussed as part of an examination of Edward Wilson’s recent dual selection theory that stresses the importance of group selection over individual selection. The complexities of integrating sociological theories into Wilson’s gene/cultural interaction theory are analyzed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    My 1963 national sample can be obtained from the Kinsey Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 55455, Minnesota, USA

    Ira L. Reiss

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  1. Ira L. Reiss
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Correspondence to Ira L. Reiss .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    John DeLamater

  2. Department of Sociology, Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, USA

    Rebecca F. Plante

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Reiss, I. (2015). Macro Theory in Sexual Science. In: DeLamater, J., Plante, R. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17341-2_4

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