The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

Romantic Relationships 315

disapprove of extramarital affairs (Sprecher,

2006). Although attitudes toward sex in gen-

eral and sex before marriage have become

more liberal over the past few decades, at-

titudes toward extramarital affairs have not

changed and remain negative. Among women,

93% believe that extramarital sex is wrong or

almost always wrong, whereas the correspond-

ing figure for men is nearly as high—89%

(Thornton & Young-DeMarco, 2001). Nearly

two-thirds (64%) of both men and women

say that they would not forgive their spouse

for having an affair and would likely divorce

(Jones, 2008). However, research also shows

that the relationship is more likely to end

after women than men have affairs (Brand et al.,

2007; Fisher et al., 2008). Although both col-

lege women and men equally value monogamy

in a mate and believe that it is important for a

relationship, men are more likely than women

to view monogamy as a sacrifice (Schmookler &

Bursik, 2007).

role theory, the sex difference in mate-poach-

ing was reduced in countries that provided

greater access to resources for women.

Men seem to draw the line at sex when

the mate is already married. That is, the vast

majority of both women and men in the

United States as well as many other countries

DO GENDER 9.3

Sexual Double Standard

Ask a group of men and women to rate

the acceptability of sexual intercourse for a

man and a woman involved in various lev-

els of relationship commitment (e.g., met

at a party, dating for six months, engaged).

Do women or men hold a double stan-

dard (i.e., believe sex is more acceptable

for women than for men) at any particular

stage of a relationship?

Predicted Peer Acceptance

Adolescent Sexual Double Standards

None 1–2 3–8 8

Number of Sexual Partners

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

Girls

Boys

FIGURE 9.6 There is a linear relation between number of sexual partners and peer acceptance for

male targets. Acceptance for female targets did not differ between 0, 1-2, and 3-8 sexual partners but

dramatically decreased for more than 8 sexual partners.

Source: Kreager & Staff, 2009

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