The sexual double standard may be defined as prohibiting or discouraging sexual behaviors in women while accepting or encouraging the same sexual behaviors in men. Several studies have found support for the existence of a sexual double standard. In a study of college virgins conducted by Sprecher and Regan (1996), women reported more social pressure than did men to remain virgins.
Lottes (1993) found that men attach more importance to marrying a virgin than do women. Muehlenhard and Cook (1988) reported that almost two-thirds of the men in their sample had unwanted sexual intercourse due to gender role expectation, suggesting that the double standard not only discourages sexual experience for women but also encourages greater sexual experience for men.
Sheeran, Spears, Abraham, and Abrams (1996) surveyed 690 Scottish teenagers and found that women who had multiple sexual partners were rated as being more irresponsible and as having less self-respect than men with multiple partners. Sprecher and Hatfield (1996) had 389 male and 654 female undergraduates complete sexual permissiveness scales and found that men had significantly more permissive attitudes towards men than towards women.
Sprecher, McKinney, and Orbuch (1987) had 233 male and 320 female undergraduates rate fictional students and found that of those who had first coitus in a noncommitted relationship or at a young age, women were evaluated more negatively than were men. Milhausen and Herold (1999) surveyed 165 female undergraduates and found that 95% believed that a double standard exists in which it is more acceptable for a man to have many sexual partners than for a woman......
