The argument about the existence of a sexual double standard among adolescent teens, both sexually permissive and not, is a widely studied topic in psychology. First, on the side supporting the existence of a double standard, their study used both ethnographic research and survey methods. Using a sample group of teens across the nation, they measured sexual behavior and its consequences on social status quantitatively. Research suggests that popularity in social situations is correlated positively with certain characteristics and prosocial behaviors. Prosocial behavior is something discussed in the lecture, it is behavior that is based on helping people and usually involves volunteering. Girls are more likely than boys to partake in prosocial behavior, possibly giving them an edge in the popular and highly regarded groups in their social settings.
However, an exception to this could be sexual behavior. By engaging in some behaviors, men are often praised or congratulated for sexual conquests. Women are regarded as loose, having a worse reputation for engaging in the same acts as their male counterparts. With the current changes in sexual standards, a single sexual norm could be created that applies equally to both genders. It has been argued that females can avoid negative regard if they are in a committed relationship when they partake in sexual activities.
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Regarding social status and peer acceptance, both have a positive correlation with athletics. For males, this could also provide more opportunities for sexual encounters. A possible confound for this measure could be early maturation and relative attractiveness. This study found that girls who have one or more sexual partners/experiences have lower friendship numbers than girls with none. This result supports their hypothesis that peer acceptance rates increase based on the number of sexual partners.
The main interest of this study was to test the possibility of a sexual double standard; how well it was or was not represented in a national sample. Their results suggested that in current adolescent society, gender and perception of sex behavior are prominent. Friendship nominations showed no correlation with non-romantic partnerships. An explanation for this could be the contradiction between males and females in revealing sexual information. Girls are afraid of making their sexual relations public and do not admit to having sex in a non-romantic manner. Boys disclose this information voluntarily because they know it will give them positive peer attributions. The girls who participate in the most sexual activities have lower nominations because their behavior is public. Having more sex behaviors raises the possibility that they will become public knowledge, this could explain why girls with higher numbers of sex partners have the fewest nominations.
Opposing the supporting side is the side that argues against a double standard. In their study, they looked at whether girls report low popularity, deficits in the number of friends, and low self-esteem were correlated to their amount of sexual relations. Their study showed that sexual behavior was a consequence, not a cause, of lower popularity. The researchers also assessed possible variability due to peer norms, based upon the idea that some friends might provide encouragement or support for sexual behaviors. Girls with more sexual relationships might have close friends that share a more liberal view. So, they may report a lower popularity standing but they still have peers that support them.
Results showed that the number of sexual relations was not correlated to the idea of a ‘flirty identity’. Also, self-esteem was not related to how many sexual partners the girls had had. The sample of teens displayed no association between low levels of peer respect and amount of sexual partners. If an association did exist, it would support the double standard because girls who are more liberal in their sexual relations should experience some form of social deficit due to their behavior.
The women in their study judged other women more harshly if they did not know them well or at all. Their qualitative data presented that their sample acknowledged the existence of a double standard. However, it was seen as a well-known reality or dynamic that takes place in the environment at large, less than on a small scale in friendships. In summary, their findings did not support the idea that girls suffer in the number of friends, popularity, or self-esteem due to a higher number of sexual partners.
In my personal experience, boys and girls that were well known to my friend group were not considered ‘sluts’ or ‘whores’ because of a high number of sexual partners while in high school. There was public knowledge about many people who had had multiple sexual partners, but this did not affect their peer status. People lower in popularity were looked down upon if they had had multiple sexual partners, but those in the ‘popular group’ were looked up to because of their sexual conquests. In my high school, the ‘popular group’ girls and boys were regarded equally as having higher standards because of their sexual relations. Boys that were not popular but had many sex partners were not talked about, and girls that were not popular but had many sex partners were seen as sluts and had a bad reputation. A double standard did exist in our school. This could be seen because popular students were praised for having high numbers of sexual partners. It was easy for them to have high numbers because they all slept with each other. Students who were not popular but were known to have had many sexual partners were considered to have a bad reputation. Even though these non-popular students had sexual relations in committed relationships that had gone on for longer than a year. The popular students had one-night stands or hookups with each other. While by other standards that would give them a bad reputation because of having sexual relations in non-committed relationships, my school praised them. These popular students were those who were gifted in athletics or had a large presence in the school. Our school was known for playing the name game, if you had the right last name, you got all the perks and special treatment. Students who were not popular might have been on the same sports team but had the wrong last name, they were not starters, or they participated in different extracurricular activities.
I understand why the double standard exists, but I do not endorse it because it is an arbitrary standard that does not make any difference once we are out of high school.
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