CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 218Primate Behavior and EcologyNeuroendocrine regulation and behaviorAnimal Behavior and Reproduction

Sex and context: hormones and primate sexual motivation

Wallen, Kim·2001·Hormones and Behavior
DOI 10.1006/hbeh.2001.1696
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Gonadal hormones regulate the ability to copulate in most mammalian species, but not in primates because copulatory ability has been emancipated from hormonal control. Instead, gonadal hormones primarily influence sexual motivation. This separation of mating ability from hormonally modulated mating interest allows social experience and context to powerfully influence the expression of sexual behavior in nonhuman primates, both developmentally and in adulthood. For example, male rhesus monkeys mount males and females equally as juveniles, but mount females almost exclusively as adults. Having ejaculated with a female better predicted this transition to female mounting partners than did increased pubertal testosterone (T). It is proposed that increased pubertal T stimulates male sexual motivation, increasing the male's probability of sexual experience with females, ultimately producing a sexual preference for females. Eliminating T in adulthood reduces male sexual motivation in both humans and rhesus monkeys, but does not eliminate the capacity to engage in sex. In male rhesus monkeys the effects of reduced androgens on sexual behavior vary with social status and sexual experience. Human sexual behavior also varies with hormonal state, social context, and cultural conventions. Ovarian hormones influence female sexual desire, but the specific sexual behaviors engaged in are affected by perceived pregnancy risk, suggesting that cognition plays an important role in human sexual behavior. How the physical capacity to mate became emancipated from hormonal regulation in primates is not understood. This emancipation, however, increases the importance of motivational systems and results in primate sexual behavior being strongly influenced by social context.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1006/hbeh.2001.1696

Cites

93 of 93 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • In nonhuman primates, gonadal hormones primarily influence sexual motivation, rather than ability to copulate.

    “Furthermore, research in nonhuman primates has identified that, distinct from most mammalian species, gonadal hormones in primates primarily influence sexual motivation, rather than ability to copulate (Wallen, 2001).”

    From Becoming a sexual being: The “elephant in the room” of adolescent brain development (2017) · cites this paper as Wallen, 2001

  • Even males who have not experienced endocrine puberty increase their sexual behavior following successful sexual experiences.

    “Even males who have not experienced endocrine puberty increase their sexual behavior following successful sexual experiences.”

    From Becoming a sexual being: The “elephant in the room” of adolescent brain development (2017) · cites this paper as Wallen, 2001

  • Shifts in social experience and context are critical influencers of learning about sexual behavior.

    “Because the effects of gonadal hormones are specific to stimulating sexual motivation, this line of research suggests that shifts in social experience and context are critical influencers of learning about sexual behavior (Wallen, 2001).”

    From Becoming a sexual being: The “elephant in the room” of adolescent brain development (2017) · cites this paper as Wallen, 2001

  • The experience of successful coupling-ejaculating during intercourse with a female-is the best predictor of future sexual behavior independent of elevated testosterone.

    “Although undergoing endocrine puberty and the associated increase in testosterone results in increased sexual behavior, the experience of successful coupling—ejaculating during intercourse with a female—is the best predictor of future sexual behavior independent of elevated testosterone (Wallen, 2001).”

    From Becoming a sexual being: The “elephant in the room” of adolescent brain development (2017) · cites this paper as Wallen, 2001

  • Tests of this model in humans suggest that estradiol is associated with increases in sexual desire and progesterone is associated with declines.

    “Tests of this model in humans, also suggest that estradiol is associated with increases in sexual desire and progesterone is associated with declines”

    From Becoming a sexual being: The “elephant in the room” of adolescent brain development (2017) · cites this paper as Wallen, 2001

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Wallen, K.
Affiliations
Emory University (US)
Corresponding author
Wallen, Kim
ORCID
Wallen, Kim
Venue
Hormones and Behavior
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2001-09
Volume
40
Issue
2
Pages
339-357
ISSN
0018-506X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1006/hbeh.2001.1696
OpenAlex
W2105661686
Cited by
218
References
93
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 12
FWCI
13.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Hormones and Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH050268, R01 MH 50268, K02MH001062, K02-MH 01062)
  • National Center for Research Resources (RR-00 165, P51RR000165)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
Keywords
sexual motivation, gonadal hormones, testosterone, androgens, rhesus monkeys, sexual behavior, social environment, social status, sexual preference, female desire, pregnancy risk, human sexual behavior, primate sexual behavior
MeSH terms
Animals, Copulation, Female, Hormones, Macaca mulatta, Male, Motivation, Primates, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Sexual Maturation, Social Environment, Testosterone

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review