The sexual double standard and topic avoidance in friendships

ABSTRACT

Grounded in sexual script theory, this research explored the relationships between casual sexual encounters, personal and perceived social endorsement of the sexual double standard (SDS), and topic avoidance about casual sex (TACS). Participants (N = 327) were recruited from Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk and responded to a survey including measures assessing the aforementioned variables. A number of gender differences were apparent in the results. For men, personal and perceived social endorsement of the SDS were significantly and positively associated with casual sexual activity, whereas these same associations were not significant for women. For women, both personal and perceived social endorsement were significantly and positively associated with TACS, but for men, personal endorsement of the SDS was significantly inversely associated with TACS. Lastly, for men, the variable most strongly associated with TACS was personal endorsement of the SDS, whereas it was perceived social endorsement of the SDS for women. Explanations for these findings are offered based on the influence of individuals’ cognitions, behaviors, and cultural scripts.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexuality
• topic avoidance
• sexual double standard
• friendships

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI; Simpson & Gangestad, 2011) was designed to measure participants’ openness to engaging in casual, uncommitted sex by assessing their past sexual behavior (e.g., “With how many different partners have you had sex on one and only one occasion?”), their forecasted future sexual behavior (e.g., “How many different partners do you foresee yourself having sex with during the next five years?”), their attitudes (e.g., “Sex without love is OK,” “I can imagine myself being comfortable and enjoying casual sex with different partners”), and their fantasies (e.g., “How often do you fantasize about having sex with someone other than your current dating partner?”) (α =.73, M= 117.59, SD = 197.05). Data on this variable were collected for use as a possible control measure and to enrich any post hoc analyses taken up in testing and exploring the hypotheses and research questions. Higher scores on the scale indicate greater openness and willingness to engage in casual sexual encounters.

2. See Appendix A for calculation of scale total.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Madeleine Holland

Madeleine R. Holland is an assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Communication Studies  at the University of Texas at Austin.

Anita L. Vangelisti

Anita L. Vangelisti is the Jesse H. Jones Centennial Professor of Communication in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.