The Sexual double standard and gender differences in predictors of perceptions of adult-teen sexual relationships

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2010

Publication Title

Sex Roles

Volume

62

Issue

3-4

First page number:

264

Last page number:

277

Abstract

We study gender differences and the effects of adult’s gender, an authority gap, and an age gap on university students’ perceptions of adult-teen sexual relationships. We specifically examine: the adult’s criminality, damage to the teen’s reputation, and emotional damage to the teen. We use a sample of 2,871 students from a Southwestern university in the U.S. who judged vignettes describing an adult-teen encounter. OLS regression demonstrated that women judged the scenarios more negatively than men. Further analyses found relationships between the experimental variables and each dependent variable and interactions by respondent’s gender and among the experimental variables. Results demonstrate a sexual double standard and highlight respondent’s gender, the age gap, and the authority context for perceptions of adult-teen relationships.

Keywords

Adult-teen sexual relationships; Adults – Sexual behavior; Sexual double standard; Statutory rape; Sex; Teenagers and adults; Teenagers — Sexual behavior

Disciplines

Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Gender and Sexuality | Sociology

Language

English

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