Men's and women's implicit sexual double standards: an application of sexual script theory
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Date
2017-09-29Author
Londo, Sarah
Advisor(s)
Thompson, Ashley
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Although sexual encounters occurring with a non-committed partner are fairly
common among young adults (Bisson & Levine, 2009; Puentes, Knox, & Zusman, 2008).
research reveals a sexual double standard in attitudes toward CSRs, with women being
judged more harshly than men (e.g., Crawford & Popp, 2003). However, recent studies
have demonstrated inconsistencies in the sexual double standard, with some researchers
suggesting that these findings are a byproduct of biased responding in survey paradigms
used in sexual double standard research. As a result, researchers have encouraged
innovative methodological procedures to assess the sexual double standard. Thus, the
current thesis employed the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and a gender priming task to
evaluate the endorsement of the sexual double standard among 138 U.S young adults (60
men, 78 women). Overall, results from the IAT revealed that participants endorsed a
small implicit sexual double standard, as evidenced by their ability to more efficiently
and accurately pair sexual images with pleasant words after receiving a men priming
procedure as compared to a women priming procedure. In addition, gender differences in
the endorsement of an implicit sexual double standard were revealed, with the gender
prime influencing men participants to a greater extent than women participants. The
current thesis has generated new information related to our understanding of the sexual
double standard in today’s society and demonstrates the importance of incorporating the
IAT (and other innovative measures). Several important implications stem from this
thesis, particularly those related to the promotion of gender equality in sexual contexts.
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/76944Description
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science in Psychology Cognitive & Affective Science