Question

What are important differences between hunger and sexual arousal, and in what ways do thes differences reflect the biological needs that hunger and sexual arousal have been evolved to address?

Answer 1

To explain the concept of this question, we need to do a quick brush-up on the concept of Hierarchy of need theory by Abraham Maslow. So, lets see,

What are needs?

• A need is a relatively lasting condition or feeling that requires relief or satisfaction, and it tends to influence action over the long term. Some needs (like hunger) may decrease when satisfied, while others (like curiosity) may not.
• Need is a psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a goal, giving purpose and direction to behavior.

Maslow’s theory is based on the premise that humans are motivated by needs that are hierarchically ranked.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs defines motivation as the process of satisfying certain needs that are required for long-term survival and development.

There are some needs that are basic to all human beings, and in their absence, nothing else matters. As we satisfy these basic needs, they no longer serve as motivators and we begin to satisfy higher-order needs.

What are the types of needs?

Maslow divided human needs into a pyramid that includes physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization needs. Higher-order needs can only be pursued when the lower needs are met

Humans have an ascending order of needs and used a hierarchal pyramid to prioritize them.

At the bottom levels of the pyramid are our -

Physiological needs—like food, shelter, and clothing—that we need to survive.

As these needs are met, progressively higher needs present themselves:

Safety and security needs),

Social interaction(Belongingness needs),

Self-esteem, all topped by

Self-actualization, a term Maslow used to describe the ultimate human need to learn, grow, and reach one’s full potential.

Now, from amongst these five level of needs, our questions concept is pertaining to the first level of needs- the lower/ Basic needs also known as the deficient needs which comprise of the following set of needs :

• Physiological Needs (Hunger/Sex)
• Safety Needs
• Belongingness and Love Needs

Let us discuss in detail the first level , The physiological needs which covers our topic of discussion (Hunger & sex needs)

Physiological Needs are inherent within the workings of the biological Systems.

These needs can be divided into two categories:

1.The first category is made up of needs that are homeostatic—the need to maintain an internal, biological balance—and include such things as salt concentration, sugar concentration, and water concentration in the blood. If a substance is out of balance, there will be a desire to consume foods that bring these levels back into balance.

2.The second category includes those needs that are not homeostatic, such as sleep and sex.

Both of these categories are deeply rooted in the biological systems of the body. More importantly, if one were to strip a person of material possessions and psychological identity, physiological needs would be the primary driver of that person’s behavior. All actions would be directed at satisfying basic needs, and the person would seek an environment to satisfy these needs.

The various differences in needs can be explained in terms of the differences in physiological responses of the human towards that particular need :

Basic Needs/Deficiency needs/lower needs:

i)Need for food : HUNGER

It involves a complex regulatory system of short term ( Glucostatic hypothesis) & long term (lipostatic hypothesis, including set point theory) regulation

Differences in physiological responses of humans towards the fulfillment /gratification of hunger need:

The very first physiological difference is the deficiency that is created within the body, when the desired need of food isnt gratified. This means that the persons survival is at risk. The homeostatic balance of the body is fluctuated.

Homeostasis refers to the body's automatic efforts to maintain a constant, normal state of the blood stream. Cannon has described this process for the water content of the blood, salt content, sugar content, protein content, fat content, calcium content, oxygen content, constant hydrogen-ion level (acid-base balance) and constant temperature of the blood. Obviously this list can be extended to include other minerals, the hormones, vitamins, etc.

the person who thinks he is hungry may actually be seeking more for comfort, or dependence, than for vitamins or proteins. Conversely, it is possible to satisfy the hunger need in part by other activities such as drinking water or smoking cigarettes. In other words, relatively isolable as these physiological needs are, they are not completely so.

Undoubtedly these physiological needs are the most pre-potent of all needs. What this means specifically is, that in the human being who is missing everything in life in an extreme fashion, it is most likely that the major motivation would be the physiological needs rather than any others. A person who is lacking food, safety, love, and esteem would most probably hunger for food more strongly than for anything else.

The various hunger processes at a glance are as follows:

• short term appetite
• Long term energy balance
• Comprehensive model of hunger regulation
• Environmental influences
• Restraint - release situations
• Cognitively regulated eating style
• Weight gain and obesity

ii)Need for Sex ( Sexual activities and arousal)

Sexual arousal (also sexual excitement) is the arousal of sexual desire, during or in anticipation of sexual activity. A number of physiological responses occur in the body and mind as preparation for sexual intercourse and continue during it. Genital responses are not the only changes, but noticeable and necessary for consensual and comfortable intercourse. Male arousal will lead to an erection, and in female arousal the body's response is engorged sexual tissues such as nipples, vulva, clitoris, vaginal walls and vaginal lubrication. Mental stimuli and physical stimuli such as touch, and the internal fluctuation of hormones, can influence sexual arousal.

Sexual motivation rises & falls in response to hormones, external stimulation,external cues (facial metrics) , cognitive scripts, sexual schemas & evolutionary processes.

-Differences in Physiological responses of humans towards the fulfillment/Gratification of Sex need:

Sexual arousal has several stages and may not lead to any actual sexual activity, beyond a mental arousal and the physiological changes that accompany it. Given sufficient sexual stimulation, sexual arousal in humans reaches its climax during an orgasm. It may also be pursued for its own sake, even in the absence of an orgasm.

Psychological response

Psychological sexual arousal involves appraisal and evaluation of a stimulus, categorization of a stimulus as sexual, and an affective response.The combination of cognitive and physiological states elicits psychological sexual arousal.Some suggest that psychological sexual arousal results from an interaction of cognitive and experiential factors, such as affective state, previous experience, and current social context.

Male

The relationship between sexual desire and arousal in men is complex, with a wide range of factors increasing or decreasing sexual arousal Physiological responses, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and erection, are often discordant with self-reported subjective perceptions of arousal. This inconsistency suggests that psychological, or cognitive aspects, also have a strong effect on sexual arousal. The cognitive aspects of sexual arousal in men are not completely known, but it does involve the appraisal and evaluation of the stimulus, categorization of the stimulus as sexual, and an affective response.

Female

Research suggests that cognitive factors like sexual motivation, perceived gender role expectations, and sexual attitudes play important roles in women's self-reported levels of sexual arousal.In her alternative model of sexual response, Basson suggests that women's need for intimacy prompts them to engage with sexual stimuli, which leads to an experience of sexual desire and psychological sexual arousal.

Apart from these factors, we have the following which may lead to the differences in responses:

1.Physiological side, which refers something to "Must", it is the need of procreation. Our hormones connecting to foster that need.

2. From pleasure side, which could make having sex addictive, it is outstanding, memorable event, which is not normal, and connects to Ecstasy.

3. The Social side is splitted into

(1) the need of Claim for beauty and (2) need for Attention.

Beauty is something very personal, that emerges differently from person to person. For example one says always that he is bust centric, or he likes girls with long blond hair. The need of Attention is broadly appearing need, which means, that you want to collect "attention" from the party you are having sex with. For example you enjoys more sex with someone, who focuses on you rather than watching something else.

IN WHAT WAY DO THESE NEEDS (HUNGER/SEXUAL AROUSAL) SATISFY THEIR GIVEN ROLE IN THE GRATIFICATION OF THE BIOLOGICAL NEEDS :

i) The role of hunger creates the deficiency of required nutrients for the body, hence creating an physiological need. This presence of physiological need in turn disrupts the homeostatis of the body and leads to physiological arousal as prolonged exposure to deficiency can terminate or put the existence of the individual at risk. The individua is forced with a psychological drive which undertakes actions to reduce the arousal and set back the homeostatis of the body and make it constant, hence reducing the threat of extinction.

ii) The role of sexual arousal creates the arousal of sexual desire, during or in anticipation of sexual activity. A number of physiological responses occur in the body and mind as preparation for sexual intercourse and continue during intercourse. Sexual arousal is the key towards the fullfilment of the basic sexual intercourse. As discussed earlier, sexual interaction plays more than one role in defining the various aspects of a persons life in terms of :Social/self esteem/heridity/procreation /for attention/ for ecstasy etc

and hence in this way they contribute to their respective roles in the gratification of the biological needs.