Human sexuality contains far more complexity than it may appear at first glance.
On the one hand, its roots lie in genetic coding and hormonal regulation; on the other, it is decisively shaped by socialization and the earliest experiences of interaction with the environment.
It is precisely at the intersection of biology and psychology that a unique pattern of sexual behavior emerges—one that cannot be explained by biological mechanisms alone.
Yet this raises a crucial question: are our desires truly governed by hormones, or should the key to understanding them be sought within the realm of human relationships?
Otto Kernberg, M.D., psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and psychotherapist, studied the nature of love and relationships through the lens of identity development. He emphasized that sexuality cannot be understood without examining core sexual identity—the fundamental sense of belonging to a particular sex—and gender-role identity, which takes shape under the influence of cultural and social norms. According to Kernberg, it is precisely the interplay of these levels that determines not only the nature of interpersonal bonds but also the distinctive features of a person’s love life and sexual preferences.
In this context, it is particularly important to align Kernberg’s perspective with findings from scientific research, which demonstrate that even in the processes of sexual differentiation of the body, the role of psychosocial factors cannot be ignored.
In tracing the development of human sexual characteristics, we see that as we advance along the biological scale of the animal kingdom the psychosocial interactions between infant and caregiver play an increasingly significant role in determining sexual behavior, and there is a relative decrease in control by genetic and hormonal factors.
In the early stages of its development, the mammalian embryo has the potential to be male or female. Undifferentiated gonads differentiate into either testes or ovaries, depending on the genetic code. Differentiation always occurs in the female direction, regardless of genetic programming, unless an adequate level of testosterone is present. In other words, even if the genetic code is masculine, an inadequate amount of testosterone will result in the development of female sexual characteristics. The principle of feminization takes priority over masculinization.
Under the influence of circulating fetal hormones, a dimorphic development of certain areas of the brain takes place following the differentiation of internal and external genitals. The brain is ambitypic, and in it the development of female characteristics also prevails unless there is an adequate level of circulating androgens. Specific hypothalamic and pitui- tary functions that will be differentiated into the cyclic in women and noncyclic in men are determined by this differentiation. Male/female differentiation of the brain occurs only in the third trimester, after differentiation of external sex organs has taken place, and possibly continues during the first postnatal trimester.
The secondary sexual characteristics, which emerge during puberty are triggered by central nervous system factors. Hormonal imbalances may alter the secondary sexual characteristics, bringing about, with lack of androgens, gynecomastia in males and, with excessive androgens, hirsutism, voice deepening, and clitoral hypertrophy in females. But the influences of alterations in hormonal levels on sexual desire and behavior are much less clear.
In short, androgens appear to influence the intensity of sexual desire in human males and females, but within the context of a clear predominance of psychosocial determinants for sexual arousal.
Thus, the biological foundation provides only the initial direction of development, while the final formation of personal and sexual identity takes place through interaction with psychosocial factors.
To date, this is a controversial, less understood areas in which biological and psychological determinants overlap or interact.
One such area is that involving core gender identity and gender-role identity.
In humans the core gender identity —that is, the individual's sense of being either male or female—is determined not by biological characteristics but by the gender assigned to it by its caretakers during the first two to four years of life.
Similarly, gender-role identity—that is, the individual's identification with certain behaviors as typical for males or females in a given society—is also heavily influenced by psychosocial factors.
Further, psychoanalytic exploration reveals that the selection of the sexual ob- ject—the target of sexual desire—is also strongly influenced by early psychosocial experience.
Thus, the consideration of both biological and psychosocial aspects of sexual development shows that neither can explain the human phenomenon in isolation. Biological mechanisms provide the foundation, yet it is early experience, socialization, and cultural norms that shape the final formation of both core sexual identity and gender-role identity. In this complex interplay, as Otto Kernberg emphasized, lies the basis not only of sexual behavior but of the entire spectrum of interpersonal relationships.
(c) Yuliia Holopiorova,
Ukrainian Association of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy