(The following is a draft of the Etiology section only. It is proposed as a new section. This does not imply the editing of any other portion of the article.)
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Research
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Etiology
editEtiology in this context is without implication of disease, disorder, or abnormality.[1][2][3][4]
Research on the etiology of sexual orientation when applied to asexuality has the definitional problem that sexual orientation is not consistently defined by all research investigators as including asexuality.[5]
Sexual orientation being "enduring" and resistant to change ("[s]exual orientation has proved to be generally impervious to interventions intended to change it")[6] and asexuality being a sexual orientation, asexuality is enduring and resistant to change.
While heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality are determined prenatally or in the early years of preadolescent life, it is not known when asexuality is determined. "It is unclear whether these characteristics [viz., "lacking interest in or desire for sex"] are thought to be lifelong, or if they may be acquired."[7]
Nonmeasurement in some areas of sexual orientation is accepted by the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the National Association of Social Workers: "[S]imply to document that a phenomenon occurs, case studies and nonprobability samples are often adequate. . . . Some groups are sufficiently few in number - relative to the entire population - that locating them with probability sampling is extremely expensive or practically impossible. In the latter cases, the use of nonprobability samples is often appropriate."[8] In determining etiologies, when asexuals are a small percentage of a large society, asexuals with a given etiology will compose an even smaller percentage, so that etiological information is available only from some individuals, generally not randomly selected.[9][10][11][12][13][14]
Community
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References
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- ^ In Webster's Third (Merriam-Webster), etiology is defined both with and without reference to disease. The word is defined as "a science or doctrine of causation or of the demonstration of causes" and as "a branch of science dealing with the causes of particular phenomena", thus without implying disease or abnormality. However, it is also defined as "all the factors that contribute to the occurrence of a disease or abnormal condition". Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged ([prob. Springfield, Mass.:] G. & C. Merriam (Merriam-Webster), 1966), entry etiology.
- ^ In the Shorter Oxford Eng. Dict. ([4th] ed.), etiology is defined both with and without reference to disease. The word is defined as "[t]he assignment of a cause", as "the cause assigned", and, as now rare or obsolete, as "[t]he philosophy of causation; the part of a science which treats of the causes of its phenomena." However, it is also defined in medicine as "[t]he causation of disease (usu., of a specified disease), esp. as a subject for investigation." The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary: On Historical Principles (Oxford: Clarendon Press, [4th] ed. 1993 (ISBN 0-19-861271-0)), entry aetiology, via entry etiology.
- ^ In the American Heritage Dict. (3d ed.), etiology is defined both with and without reference to disease. The word is defined as "[t]he study of causes or origins" and as "[a]ssignment of a cause, an origin, or a reason for something." However, it is also defined as "[t]he branch of medicine that deals with the causes or origins of disease" and as "[t]he cause or origin of a disease or disorder as determined by medical diagnosis." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 3d ed. 1992 (ISBN 0-395-44895-6)), entry etiology.
- ^ In a nursing dictionary, etiology is defined relative only to disease. The word is defined as "[t]he study of the causes of disease" and as "[t]he cause of a disease", with no other definitions, in Thomas, Clayton L., ed., Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (Philadelphia: F. A. Davis, ed. 16 8th printing 1989 (ISBN 0-8036-8310-3)), entry etiology. The dictionary is intended for "those in the field of nursing" and others. Id., p. viii (Introduction to Edition 16, by Clayton Lay Thomas).
- ^ E.g., one study on hormonal influences defines sexual orientation as "heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality" only. Garcia-Falgueras, Alicia, & Swaab, Dick F., Sexual Hormones and the Brain: An Essential Alliance for Sexual Identity and Sexual Orientation, in Endocrine Development, vol. 17, p. 24 (2010) (ISSN 1421-7082) (authors are of Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, of Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) (author contact is 2d author) (vol. 17 is Sandro Loche, Marco Cappa, Lucia Ghizzoni, Mohamad Maghnie, & Martin O. Savage, eds., Pediatric Neuroendocrinology) ("sexual orientation (heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality)").
- ^ Case No. S147999 in the Supreme Court of the State of California, In re Marriage Cases Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding No. 4365, Application For Leave to File Brief Amici Curiae in Support of the Parties Challenging the Marriage Exclusion, and Brief Amici Curiae of the American Psychological Association, California Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, National Association of Social Workers, and National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter in Support of the Parties Challenging the Marriage Exclusion (California amicus brief of APA, APA, & NASW), as accessed Mar. 17, 2010, Brief, p. 6 & p. 11 n. 14, respectively (pp. 28 & 33, respectively, per Adobe Acrobat Reader).
- ^ Prause, Nicole, & Graham, Cynthia A., Asexuality: Classification and Characterization, Mar. 8, 2007 (rec'd Dec. 6, 2005, revised Mar. 20, 2006, & accepted Jul. 8, 2006), in Archives of Sexual Behavior, vol. 36, no. 3 (Jun., 2007), as accessed Mar. 17, 2010 (DOI 10.1007/s10508-006-9142-3), p. 342 (also springerlink.com (part) & PubMed (part)), both as accessed Mar. 17, 2010) (lead author Nicole Prause of Dep't Psychological & Brain Scis., Indiana Univ., author Cynthia A. Graham of Oxford Doctoral Course in Clinical Psychology, Isis Education Centre, Warneford Hospital, Headington, Oxford, & both authors of Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, & Reproduction, Indiana Univ.).
- ^ Case No. S147999 in the Supreme Court of the State of California, In re Marriage Cases Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding No. 4365, Application For Leave to File Brief Amici Curiae in Support of the Parties Challenging the Marriage Exclusion, and Brief Amici Curiae of the American Psychological Association, California Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, National Association of Social Workers, and National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter in Support of the Parties Challenging the Marriage Exclusion (California amicus brief of APA, APA, & NASW), as accessed Mar. 17, 2010, Brief, p. 4 n. 3 (p. 26, per Adobe Acrobat Reader).
- ^ abc55555 (user). "My Reason For Being Asexual", comment #1, Mar. 20, 2005, as accessed Feb. 28, 2010.
- ^ fangless (user). "One Reason Why I Don't Like Sex", comment #1, Sep. 26, 2008, as accessed Feb. 28, 2010.
- ^ fangless (user). "One Reason Why I Don't Like Sex", comment #20, Sep. 26, 2008, as accessed Feb. 28, 2010.
- ^ Cheerio_Koroke (user). "One Reason Why I Don't Like Sex", comment #16, Sep. 27, 2008, as accessed Feb. 28, 2010.
- ^ Bridgeman, Shelley, No Sex Please, We're Asexual, in (New Zealand) Herald News, Aug. 5, 2007, as accessed Feb. 20, 2010.
- ^ Levinson, Nick, For Men Only: Asexuality, in So to Speak: a feminist journal of language and art, vol. 14, no. 2 (2005), pp. 51–54.
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