Chronophilia
Encyclopedia
The term chronophilia was used by John Money
that he defined as a form of paraphilia
in which an individual experiences sexual attraction limited to individuals of particular age ranges. The term has not been widely adopted by sexologists
, who instead use terms that refer to the specific age range in question.
John Money
John William Money was a psychologist, sexologist and author, specializing in research into sexual identity and biology of gender...
that he defined as a form of paraphilia
Paraphilia
Paraphilia is a biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are not part of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her...
in which an individual experiences sexual attraction limited to individuals of particular age ranges. The term has not been widely adopted by sexologists
Sexology
Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behavior, and function. The term does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sex, such as political analysis or social criticism....
, who instead use terms that refer to the specific age range in question.
Sexual preferences based on age
- Paedophilia is a psychological disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a sexual preference for prepubescentChildBiologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
children. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental DisordersDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental DisordersThe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders...
(DSM), paedophilia is specified as a form of paraphiliaParaphiliaParaphilia is a biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are not part of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her...
in which a person either has intense sexual urges towards children, and experiences recurrent sexual urges towards and fantasiesFantasy (psychology)Fantasy in a psychological sense is broadly used to cover two different senses, conscious and unconscious. In the unconscious sense, it is sometimes spelled "phantasy".-Conscious fantasy:...
about children that he or she has acted on or that cause distress or interpersonal difficulty. The diagnosis can be made under the DSM or ICD criteria for persons age 16 and older. The disorder is common among persons who commit child sexual abuseChild sexual abuseChild sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
; although some offenders do not meet the clinical diagnosis standards for paedophilia. Nepiophilia and infantophilia describe a sexual preference for toddlerToddlerA toddler is a young child, usually defined as being between the ages of one and three. Registered nurse, midwife and author, Robin Barker, states 'Any time from eight months onwards your baby will begin to realise he is a separate person from you...
s and infants (usually ages 0–3).
- The term paedohebephilia refers to an expansion and reclassification of paedophilia with subgroups in the DSM-5DSM-5The next edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , commonly called DSM-5 , is currently in consultation, planning and preparation...
.. It refers more broadly to sexual attractions. People who are dysfunctional as a result of it are diagnosed with paedohebephilic disorder. People are broken down into types based on the idea of being attracted to one, the other or both. Hebephilia is described below.
- HebephiliaHebephiliaHebephilia refers to the sexual preference for individuals in the early years of puberty . Girls typically begin the process of puberty at age 10 or 11; boys at age 11 or 12...
and ephebophiliaEphebophiliaEphebophilia is the sexual preference of adults for mid-to-late adolescents, generally ages 15 to 19. The term was originally used in the late 19th to mid 20th century, and has been more recently revisited by Ray Blanchard. It is one of a number of sexual preferences across age groups subsumed...
are sexual preference for pubescent and post-pubescent youths, respectively. Hebephilia is the sexual preference for pubescent individuals, and ephebophilia is the sexual preference for mid-to-late adolescents (generally 16–19 years). The term hebephilia was introduced by Glueck (1955). Kurt FreundKurt FreundKurt Freund was a Czech-Canadian physician and sexologist best known for developing phallometry , research studies in pedophilia, and for the "courtship disorder" hypothesis as a taxonomy of certain paraphilias Kurt Freund (17 January 1914–23 October 1996) was a Czech-Canadian physician and...
(and Aleš Kolářský) use the term adolescentophilia for a sexual preference of pubescent and/or adolescent youths. In this context, the adolescentophilia focused on boys is ephebophilia (from the Greek ephebos), the adolescentophilia focused on girls is hebephilia (the terms korophilia and parthenophilia are sometimes used in similar meanings). Freund and Kolářský differentiate both ephebophilia and hebephilia by the preferred age: ephebophilia and hebephilia I (age of early puberty), II (middle adolescence) and III (late adolescence).
- Teleiophilia (from Greek teleios, "full grown") is erotic or sexual interest in adults. Teleiophilia is not restricted by the teleiophile's age. Sex-specific attractions to persons are "gynephilia and androphiliaGynephilia and androphiliaAndrophilia and gynephilia are terms used in behavioral science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization....
". Teleiophilia was also called adultophilia.
- GerontophiliaGerontophiliaThe term gerontophilia refers to the sexual preference for the elderly. The word is originated from Greek: Geron, which means "old man" and philie, which means "love"...
and graeophilia describe erotic or sexual preference for the elderly.