Patterns of Sexual Behavior
Cover of the first edition
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| Author |
Clellan S. Ford Frank A. Beach |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Sexual behavior |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
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Publication date
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1951 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 330 (1965 edition) |
| ISBN | |
Patterns of Sexual Behavior, published in 1951, is a work of scientific literature co-authored by Clellan S. Ford and Frank A. Beach. The book integrates information about human sexual behavior from 191 different cultures, and includes detailed comparisons across animal species, with particular emphasis on primates.Patterns of Sexual Behavior, which has been called a "classic" of its field, provided the intellectual foundation for the later research of Masters and Johnson.
Patterns of Sexual Behavior was originally published by Harper & Brothers, New York in 1951. The following year, the work was reprinted (under the title Patterns of Sexual Behaviour) by Eyre and Spottiswoode in London. Metheun published a reprint of the 1951 Harper & Row edition in 1965. In 1977, Frank Beach authored a revised version of the book, entitled Human Sexuality in Four Perspectives.
Patterns of Sexual Behavior employs a "cross-cultural correlational method" in exploring sexual behavior, a statistical approach suitable for distinguishing behavioral trends and making generalizations. The book integrates information from 191 cultures: 48 from Oceania, 28 from Eurasia, 33 from Africa, 57 from North America, and 26 from South America. Much of their data was collected in the Human Relations Area Files, a cross-institutional organization co-founded by Ford. The comprehensive book offers information on such topics as "sexual positions, length (time) of intercourse, locations for intercourse, orgasm experiences, types of foreplay, courting behaviors, frequencies of intercourse [and] methods of attracting a partner." The book covers homosexuality 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.
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