Studies of the sexual double standard: sexual concordance and comparison in different cultures.
The sexual double standard (SDS) implies men and women are being evaluated differently in terms of sexuality. CIMCYC researchers have carried out several studies concerning the SDS. They have proposed their analysis by alluding to two domains of sexual behaviors (freedom and shyness) and through different typologies of adherence (man-favorable, woman-favorable and egalitarian;)Alvarez-Muelas et al., 2021; Sierra et al., 2018).
In one study, Ana Álvarez Muelas, Juan Carlos Sierra and Carmen Gómez Berrocal examined sexual concordance, which is the relationship between genital response and subjective sexual arousal, in the different typologies of SDS adherence. In general, greater sexual concordance has been observed in men than in women, due to factors such as SDS.
For this purpose, sexual concordance was examined through an experimental task carried out at the Human Sexuality Laboratory located at CIMCYC. A total of 104 young adults (42 men and 62 women) participated, distributed into typologies of SDS adherence for sexual freedom based on their scores in the Spanish version of the Sexual Double Standard Scale (Sierra et al., 2018).
The results indicated sexual concordance in men and women with egalitarian and man-favorable typology, thus concluding that genital responsiveness and subjective sexual arousal depend on SDS adherence typology.
The other study examined the differences in the prevalence of SDS typologies for sexual freedom and sexual shyness between Spain, Peru and Ecuador in 18-25-year-old youths. To do so, 2,229 heterosexual adults (34.2% Spanish, 33.7% Peruvian, and 32.1% Ecuadorian) responded to the Spanish version of the Sexual Double Standard Scale (Sierra et al., 2018).
The results showed differences between the three Spanish-speaking countries, both in the total sample and in the sample of men and women separately, and in behaviors related to sexual freedom and sexual shyness. The most prevalent typologies were the egalitarian typology in Spain, man-favorable in Peru and Ecuador, and woman-favorable in Ecuador.
These results conclude that socio-structural conditions and how resources are distributed between men and women could be related to the prevalence of different gender-related sexual norms.
Contact
-Ana Álvarez Muelas: @email
-Juan Carlos Sierra: @email
-Carmen Gómez Berrocal: @email
Full references
- Álvarez-Muelas, A., Gómez-Berrocal, C. y Sierra, J. C. (2021). Typologies of Sexual Double Standard Adherence in Spanish Population. European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context, 13, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.5093/ejpalc2021a1
- Álvarez-Muelas, A., Gómez-Berrocal, C., Osorio, D., Noe-Grijalva, H. M., & Sierra, J. C. (2022). Sexual Double Standard: a Cross-Cultural Comparison of Young Adults Spanish, Peruvian, and Ecuadorian People. Sexuality Research and Social Policy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00714-x
-Álvarez-Muelas, A., Sierra, J. C., Gómez-Berrocal, C., Arcos-Romero, A. I., Calvillo, C., & Granados, R. (2022). Study of Sexual Concordance in Men and Women with Different Typologies of Adherence to the Sexual Double Standard. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 22(2), 100297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2022.100297
- Sierra, J. C., Moyano, N., Vallejo-Medina, P. y Gómez-Berrocal, C. (2018). An abridged Spanish version of Sexual Double Standard Scale: Factorial structure, reliability and validity evidence. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 18, 69-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2017.05.003