The Influence of Physical Appearance and Personality on the Exhibition of the Sexual Double Standard

Abstract

The sexual double standard is the phenomenon whereby men are evaluated positively and women are evaluated negatively for engaging in identical sexual behavior. Although people can hold conflicting information (e.g., stereotypical vs. counterstereotypical individuating information) about other individuals, they attempt to form a consistent impression of individuals by inhibiting inconsistent information. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether individuating information about physical appearance and personality could mitigate the exhibition of the evaluations stereotypically associated with the sexual double standard. A sample of 596 participants evaluated a target person who reported having 1 or 12 sexual partners. Overall, participants evaluated highly sexually active female targets more positively than their male counterparts when the targets were either attractive and had a pleasant personality, or were unattractive and had an unpleasant personality. Results highlight the importance of the consistency of individuating information for evaluations of highly sexually active women.

Physical attractiveness and women’s HIV risk in rural Malawi

“…Our study demonstrates that the negative association between attractiveness and HIV risk is not due to a distinct advantage in the sexual domain among women who are perceived as being particularly attractive, but instead is driven by the fact that women who are perceived as being less attractive are at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the population, in terms of their ability to avoid risky situations and protect themselves from infection. While much of the literature on attractiveness and sexual behavior focuses on the experiences of women who are at the higher end of the distribution in terms of perceived attractiveness ( Agnew and Thompson 1994 ; Kelley 1978 ; Kruse and Fromme 2005 ; Zaikman et al 2016 ), our study suggests that it may instead be women on the lower end of this distribution whose sexual experiences are most notably distinct, at least in ways that shape their HIV risk.…”

“…Physical appearance – specifically perceived attractiveness – has been shown across contexts to be a salient determinant of the social patterning of sexual relations ( Agnew and Thompson 1994 ; Dijkstra, Buunk, and Blanton 2000 ; McClintock 2011 ; Zaikman et al 2016 ). In Western settings, research shows that perceived attractiveness influences sexual relations, as well as sexual risk behaviors, through two distinct processes.…”

Humhandara and hujaya: Virginity, Culture, and Gender Inequalities Among Adolescents in Zimbabwe

“…The sexual double standard is the foundation of the customs and values that produce and uphold acceptable teenage sexuality for boys and girls (Tolman, 2016). The sexual double standard instigates and supports sexual experience in male adolescents but condemns sexual experience in teenage girls (Leclerc-Madlala, 2001;Schalet et al, 2014;Zaikman & Marks, 2016). On the contrary, teenage boys tend to increase their peer status by indulging and making public their sexual forays (Museka & Machingura, 2014;Schalet et al, 2014).…”

Investigating the conceptual link between appearance-related self-discrepancies and retail therapy shopping behavior through motivational routes

“…body image and morality) and consumer behaviors (i.e. eating disorder and sexual behavior) (Heine et al , 2006; Zaikman and Marks, 2016). Therefore, several of these research gaps exist in the field of emotion-oriented shopping behavior (e.g.…”