Sexual guilt | |
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| Topic | Psychology |
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| Type | Emotional Response |
 Relationships (Outline) |
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Sexual guilt is a negative emotional response associated with the feeling of anxiety, guilt or shame in relation to sexual activity. It is also known as “sexual shame”.
It is linked with the negative social stigma and cultural expectations that are held towards sex as well as the historical religious opposition of all “immoral” sexual acts. Participation in sexual intercourse does not need to occur to experience sexual guilt, however, self sexual pleasure or sexual activities with others are major causes. Sexual guilt can also be felt by an individual who feels guilty about the idea of sex. Sexual guilt can be derived from the negative pressures placed upon individuals throughout a lifetime of parental messages or religious teachings surrounding sexual activity and expression.[1]
Sexual guilt can severely impact the affected individual and deteriorate the relationships of those close to them. It has been linked to cases of sexual dysfunction, clinical depression and other mental illnesses.[2] Sexual guilt can also cause physical impacts and illnesses. If the individual feels shame or guilt towards sexual participation they may be less likely to seek protective and contraceptive measures or seek medical attention if they encounter symptoms from sexual intercourse.
Within the modern era of sexual expressiveness and instant sexual gratification, sexual education plays an important role in reducing the impacts and risk of sexual guilt as its incidence increases. Past historical research[3] into the cause of sexual guilt has shown to require more study.
- ^ "Overcoming Religious Sexual Shame". Psychology Today. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Janda, Louis; O'Grady, Kevin (December 1976). "Effects of guilt and response modality upon associative sexual responses". Journal of Research in Personality. 10 (4): 457–462. doi:10.1016/0092-6566(76)90059-3.