Abstract
In contemporary society it is widely believed that men are socially rewarded for sexual activity, whereas women are derogated for sexual activity. To determine whether a sexual double standard exists, both undergraduate (n = 144) and Internet (n = 8,080) participants evaluated experimental targets who were described as either male or female and as having a variable number of sexual partners. Targets were more likely to be derogated as the number of sexual partners increased, and this effect held for both male and female targets. These results suggest that, although people do evaluate others as a function of sexual activity, people do not necessarily hold men and women to different sexual standards.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 175-186 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Sex Roles |
Volume | 52 |
Issue number | 3-4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2005 |
Keywords
- Attitudes toward sex
- Double standard
- Gender differences
- Gender equality
- Gender norms
- Promiscuity
- Sex partners
- Sexual activity
- Sexuality
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Gender Studies
- Social Psychology
- Developmental and Educational Psychology