Psychology sexual Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Psychology sexual Identity - Essay Example Fortunately, I now have the capacity to gauge their influence on my relationships-how they start, get maintained or ultimately end. Prior to learning all these, it is as if they passed by my life like a stream. Having been in this course enabled me to dip my hands and catch a handful of water - I am now able to contemplate about these ideas and not just let them influence me without my comprehension. '''''' I have acquired a lot from the course, and one of them is utilizing critical thinking and value systems in arriving at sexual decisions. Sex is indeed a basic, physiologic need, but expressing one's sexuality is also ridden by personal choices and not just controlled by raging hormones (Nevid et. al, 2005). I have tackled sexual decisions before without so much thought to them, and by then I could have been labeled as a follower of ethical relativism-living life and acting out according to one's own conscience rather than depending on external frames of thought to identify the demarcation line between bad and good (Nevid, et. al, 2005). Knowing the other value systems has not caused me to be swayed to switching and adhering to them, but it has helped me gain understanding of the rationales for other people's sexual actions. More than understanding other people, I have learned that my belief in ethical relativism boils down to my being open-minded and tolerant of diversity. Opposing opinions do not irritate me, nor am I advocating for oneness of opinion just to promote harmony amongst people who are intolerant of differences. I may see pre-marital sex as acceptable, but I can deal with people who staunchly believe that it is a sin and deserves abomination. Through this, I am now able to respect their decisions more, and also, I am able to respect my very own decisions as well because I have seen how self-reliant I am, enough that I was and still is able, to make sexual decisions in accordance with my own conscience-decisions that give not only space for freedom, but also impose limitations if this already tramples o n another's rights. '''''' During the duration of the course, my critical thinking skills applied in sexual decisions has also been honed and sharpened. I used to jump inside the bandwagon of pop psychology, believing in claims that has garnered growing number of support, and with this in mind, fueled enough complacency in me to apply in my sexual life. It is no different from all those fab diet regimens advertised in commercials; not all of them produce the results they claim to bring about. Of particular and pragmatic use are some guidelines presented in the first chapter. I learned how not to take everything by hook, line and sinker. I learned how to debate with what the book presented as fact. Indeed, there are book and magazines showing off that they have what it takes, methods and all, to bring out an explosive sexual experience. My old self used to pick up those kinds of magazines and buy them. Now I criticize the article first with questions like, "Who wrote this'", "Do they have credible and reliable sources or is the article just filled with sensationalized personal accounts'" Critical thinking enables me to ask the right questions so that I might arrive at the correct answers, which in turn becomes a guide for me to reach sensible decisions.' Effect of Environment and Historical