''Patterns of Sexual Behavior'' is a 1951 book by anthropologist Clellan S. Ford and ethologist Frank A. Beach, in which the authors integrate information about

human sexual behavior Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...

from different cultures, and include detailed comparisons across

animal species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sex ...

, with particular emphasis on

primate Primates are a diverse order (biology), order of mammals. They are divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include the Tarsiiformes, tarsiers and ...

s. The book received positive reviews and has been called a classic. It provided the foundation for the later research of

Masters and Johnson The Masters and Johnson research team, composed of William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson, pioneered research into the nature of human sexual response and the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders and dysfunctions from 1957 until the ...

Summary

Ford and Beach employ a "cross-cultural correlational method" in exploring sexual behavior, a statistical approach suitable for distinguishing behavioral trends and making generalizations. They integrate information from 191 cultures: 48 from

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

, 28 from

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

, 33 from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, 57 from North America, and 26 from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

.Andrew Paul Lyons & Harriet Lyons (2004) ''Irregular Connections: A History of Anthropology and Sexuality'', University of Nebraska Press, p268-70 Much of their data was collected in the

Human Relations Area Files The Human Relations Area Files, Inc. (HRAF), located in New Haven, Connecticut, US, is an international nonprofit membership organization with over 500 member institutions in more than 20 countries. A financially autonomous research agency based a ...

, a cross-institutional organization co-founded by Ford. They offer information on such topics as " sexual positions, length (time) of intercourse, locations for intercourse,

orgasm Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling") or sexual climax is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic, involuntary muscular contractions in the pelvic region charact ...

experiences, types of

foreplay Foreplay is a set of emotionally and physically intimate acts between one or more people meant to create sexual arousal and desire for sexual activity. Although foreplay is typically understood as physical sexual activity, nonphysical activiti ...

, courting behaviors, frequencies of intercourse ndmethods of attracting a partner." They cover

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

in both humans and other animals, citing evidence of accepted homosexual behavior in 49 of the 76 cultures for which the relevant data were available. Ford and Beach conclude that there is a "basic mammalian capacity" for same-sex behavior.

Publication history

''Patterns of Sexual Behavior'' was originally published by

Harper & Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1951.Patricia Stuart-Macadam & Katherine A. Dettwyler (1995) ''Breastfeeding: biocultural perspectives,'' Transaction Publishers, p207 The following year, the work was reprinted (under the title ''Patterns of Sexual Behaviour'') by

Eyre and Spottiswoode Eyre & Spottiswoode was the London-based printing firm that was the King's Printer, and subsequently, a publisher prior to being incorporated; it once went by the name of Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & co. ltd. In April 1929, it was incorporated as E ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Metheun published a reprint of the 1951

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

edition in 1965.

Reception

Scientific and academic journals

''Patterns of Sexual Behavior'' received positive reviews from Allan R. Holmberg in the ''

American Sociological Review The ''American Sociological Review'' is a bi-monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of sociology. It is published by SAGE Publications on behalf of the American Sociological Association. It was established in 1936. The editors- ...

'' and Abraham Stone in '' Marriage and Family Living'', and was later discussed by the anthropologist

George Murdock George Peter ("Pete") Murdock (May 11, 1897 – March 29, 1985), also known as G. P. Murdock, was an American anthropologist who was professor at Yale University and University of Pittsburgh. He is remembered for his empirical approach to eth ...

in ''

American Anthropologist ''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John ...

''. George P. Murdock (1974) "Clellan Stearns Ford, 1909-1972," ''

'', New Series, Vol. 76, No. 1 (Mar., 1974), pp. 83-85 Holmberg described the book as well-written, and credited Ford and Beach with placing "the study of sex in a broad scientific perspective" by presenting and analyzing "an enormous body of data" on sexual behavior in both humans and non-human animals and placing it in cross-cultural, evolutionary, and physiological perspectives. He described their efforts as having "important theoretical, methodological, and practical implications" and believed they showed the merits of a "cross-disciplinary approach to the problems of human behavior." He complimented them for statistically documenting sexual practices and attitudes, and contributing important material on masturbation and homosexuality, suggesting the existence of "an inherent biological tendency toward such activities." He believed their book deserved to be widely read and predicted that it would have a "healthy impact on attitudes toward sex" and encourage further research by social scientists. However, he criticized them for providing insufficient discussion of "the symbolic aspects of sexual behavior". Stone credited Ford and Beach with examining both biological and social influences on sex, thereby providing an "essential perspective" on human sexual behavior. Though he considered their use of the term "sex behavior" to refer exclusively to "behavior involving stimulation and excitation of the sexual organ" to be narrow, he believed they dealt "in great detail with a great many aspects of sex conduct and sex contact" and provided a "very full presentation of sex behavior from the point of view of anatomy and physiology". Murdock described the book as a "classic" of its field.

Evaluations in books

Anne Bolin and Patricia Whelehan identified ''Patterns of Sexual Behavior'' as a book that was highly influential in the study of sexual behavior in ''Perspectives on Human Sexuality'' (1999). They wrote that it provided the intellectual foundation for the later research of

.Anne Bolin & Patricia Whelehan (1999), ''Perspectives on Human Sexuality,'' SUNY Press, p10 Andrew Paul Lyons and Harriet Lyons argued ''Irregular Connections: A History of Anthropology and Sexuality'' (2004) that ''Patterns of Sexual Behavior'' was comprehensive for its time but nevertheless contained a number of self-imposed limitations. Its authors limited their definition of sexual behavior to "behavior involving stimulation and excitation of the sexual organs," and made no attempt to explore sexual symbolism. While acknowledging that their study might have implications for

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

, they felt themselves unqualified to explore specific questions pertaining to this field. They claimed to make no judgements of

moral value In ethics and the social sciences, value theory involves various approaches that examine how, why, and to what degree humans value things and whether the object or subject of valuing is a person, idea, object, or anything else. Within philosophy ...

, though their study is considered supportive of sexual relativism. Lyons and Lyons credited them with "making homosexual behavior more visible and more acceptable within the culture of its time." The anthropologist Peter B. Gray and Justin R. Garcia described ''Patterns of Sexual Behavior'' as similar to their work ''Evolution and Human Sexual Behavior'' (2013) in its objectives; however, they also considered it dated.Peter B. Gray & Justin R. Garcia (2013), ''Evolution and Human Sexual Behavior,'' Harvard University Press, pp xv-xvi, 324

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterns Of Sexual Behavior 1951 non-fiction books Biology books English-language books Harper & Brothers books Non-fiction books about sexuality Works about animal sexuality 1951 in biology