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The Sexual Double Standard: Fact Or Fiction?

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The Sexual Double Standard: Fact Or Fiction? Sex Roles, Vol. 52, Nos. 3/4, February 2005 (C 2005) DOI: 10.1007/s11199-005-1293-5 The Sexual Double Standard: Fact or Fiction? Michael J. Marks1,2 and R. Chris Fraley1 In contemporary society it is widely believed that men are socially rewarded for sexual activ- ity, 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 sug- gest that, although people do evaluate others as a function of sexual activity, people do not necessarily hold men and women to different sexual standards. KEY WORDS: double standard; sexuality; sex partners; attitudes toward sex; gender norms; gender differences; sexual activity; gender equality; promiscuity. In contemporary society it is widely believed that behavioral scientists have documented the dou- that women and men are held to different standards ble standard extensively and elucidated many of the of sexual behavior (Milhausen & Herold, 2001). As mechanisms that generate and sustain it. Despite Barash and Lipton (2001, p. 145) noted, “a man who much systematic research, however, there is virtu- is successful with many women is likely to be seen as ally no consistent evidence for the existence of this just that—successful ... [whereas] a woman known allegedly pervasive phenomenon. to have ‘success’ with many men is ... likely to be We have three objectives in this article. Our first known as a ‘slut.’ ” The view that men are socially is to review briefly the empirical literature on the sex- rewarded and women socially derogated for sexual ual double standard. As we discuss, research findings activity has been labeled the sexual double standard. concerning the double standard do not strongly sup- The sexual double standard has received a lot port its existence. Next, we discuss several method- of attention from contemporary critics of Western ological reasons why previous researchers may not culture (e.g., Lamb, 2002; Tanenbaum, 2000; White, have been able to document a double standard even 2002). Tanenbaum (2000), for example, has docu- if one exists. Finally, we report a study that was de- mented the harassment and distress experienced by signed to determine whether the sexual double stan- adolescent girls who have been branded as “sluts” by dard exists by rectifying the methodological limita- their peers. Other writers have critiqued the way the tions of previous studies. media help to create and reinforce negative stereo- types of sexually active women (Waggett, 1989) and Empirical Research on the Sexual Double Standard how these stereotypes may contribute to violence against women (Malamuth & Check, 1981). Given The sexual double standard seems to be a the attention the sexual double standard has re- ubiquitous phenomenon in contemporary society; ceived in contemporary discourse, one might assume one recent survey revealed that 85% of people believe that a double standard exists in our culture 1 Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana- (Marks, 2002; see also Milhausen & Herold, 2001). Champaign, Illinois. 2To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of The double standard is frequently publicized by Psychology (MC 716), 603 E. Daniel Street, Champaign, Illinois the media. For example, MTV, a popular cable 61820; e-mail: [email protected]. television channel that specializes in contemporary 175 0360-0025/05/0200-0175/0 C 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 176 Marks and Fraley culture, recently aired a program called “Fight The number of sexual partners respondents for Your Rights: Busting the Double Standard” have had also appears to influence their judgments of that was designed to convey the idea that a sexual targets. Milhausen and Herold (1999), for example, double standard exists and that people should try to found that women with many sexual partners were transcend it by exhibiting more egalitarian thinking more tolerant of highly sexually active men than (MTV Networks Music, 2003). were women with few sexual partners. However, the Although the sexual double standard seems interaction between target gender, target experience, pervasive, empirical research does not necessarily and participant experience was not tested. The gen- show that people evaluate sexually active men and der of the respondent has also been shown to influ- women differently. In fact, much of the literature ence views on sexuality. Women tend to hold sexual reveals little or no evidence of a double standard standards that are stricter than those of men, but do (Gentry, 1998; Oliver & Sedikides, 1992; O’Sullivan, not necessarily apply those standards differently as a 1995; Sprecher, 1989; Sprecher, McKinney, Walsh, & function of the gender of the person being evaluated Anderson, 1988). O’Sullivan (1995), for example, (Sprecher, 1989; Sprecher et al., 1988). conducted a person perception study in which indi- In summary, although it appears that people do vidual participants read vignettes of a male or fe- evaluate others with respect to the number of sex- male target who reported a high or low number of ual partners those people have had, research does past sexual partners. Participants then evaluated the not consistently show that those evaluations differ targets in domains such as likeability, morality, and for male and female targets.3 Even in situations in desirability as a spouse. Although men and women which men and women are evaluated differently, the who engaged in casual intercourse were evaluated associations usually vary only in magnitude, not in more negatively than those whose sexual experiences sign. In other words, there are some situations in occurred in committed relationships, a double stan- which both women and men may be evaluated more dard was not found. Gentry (1998) also employed a negatively as the number of sexual partners they re- person perception task and found that raters judged port increases, but this association is only slightly both male and female targets who had relatively few stronger for women than it is for men. As we will past sexual partners and who were in monogamous explain below, this pattern can be characterized as a relationships more positively than targets who had “weak” rather than “strong” double standard. If the a high number of partners and had frequent casual sexual double standard is as pervasive and powerful sex. Again, no evidence of a double standard was as many people believe, empirical research should re- found. Sprecher et al. (1988) examined how appro- veal cross-over interactions such that the association priate certain sexual acts were for men and women between sexual experience and evaluations is nega- of various ages. Although older targets received tive for women but positive for men. more permissive responses (i.e., they were allowed more sexual freedom), there were few differences Sexual Double Standard Research Methodology in the standards used for men versus women for any age group. Although the empirical literature would seem Researchers have also documented many char- to suggest that the sexual double standard is not in acteristics of respondents that influence attitudes to- operation, it may be the case that behavioral scien- ward sexuality, but few, if any, of these findings tists have failed to tap it properly. Commonly used are consistent with a double standard. For instance, paradigms for studying the sexual double standard Garcia (1982) found that respondents’ degree of an- may have methodological limitations that prevent drogyny was related to the sexual stereotypes they the double standard from emerging. If this is the case, held. Androgynous participants (i.e., people who changes are needed in the methodology used in sex- possess high levels of both masculine and femi- ual double standard research. nine psychological traits) displayed a single standard, whereas gender-typed respondents (i.e., masculine 3Some authors have claimed to find support for a double standard. men and feminine women) displayed a slight pref- For instance, Sprecher, McKinney, and Orbuch (1987) found ev- erence for female targets in the low-sexual expe- idence of a double standard conditional on age and the context (committed or casual) in which the loss of virginity occurred. rience condition. However, a preference for high- However, neither the interaction between target gender and age experience male targets over low-experience male (Sprecher, 1989; Sprecher et al., 1988) nor the context effect targets was not found. (O’Sullivan, 1995) has been replicated. The Sexual Double Standard 177 One limitation of past research is the likely tudes may not be reflected in the actual evaluations existence of demand characteristics. For example, that people make about one another. Therefore, it if a study explicitly requires participants to rate is imperative to focus on the evaluations that people the appropriateness of certain sexual behaviors for make about specific individuals. men, immediately followed by identical questions regarding women (e.g., Ferrel, Tolone, & Walsh, Overview of the Present Study 1977; Sheeran, Spears, Abraham, & Abrams, 1996; Sprecher & Hatfield, 1996), participants may try to The objective of the present experiment was to answer either in an egalitarian manner or in a man- determine whether people evaluate men and women ner that is consistent with what they believe to be the differently based on the number of sexual partners norm. Given that many people have preconceived they have had. To do this, we asked participants to notions about the sexual double standard (Milhausen rate a target on a number of evaluative dimensions. & Herold, 1999, 2001), it is important to minimize de- We manipulated both (a) the sex of the target and (b) mand characteristics when researching attitudes to- the number of sexual partners reported by the tar- ward sexuality.
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