The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

Sex-Related Comparisons: Observations 125

behaviors, one on 834 independent samples

and one on 7 large national surveys con-

ducted between 1993 and 2007. Most of

these studies were conducted in the United

States and Europe. This research addressed

the file-drawer problem by including unpub-

lished dissertations in the first meta-analysis

and using national surveys in the second

meta-analysis, regardless of their publication

status.

The first meta-analysis showed sex dif-

ferences for 26 of the 30 attitudes and behav-

iors, most of which were small. Results from

both meta-analyses showed that men, com-

pared to women, report more sexual part-

ners (study 1:d=+.36; study 2:d=+.15),

more casual sex (d=+.38;d=+.18), more

frequent masturbation (d=+.53;d=+.58),

and greater use of pornography (d=+.63;

d=+.46). Small differences appeared for the

sex difference in sexual satisfaction (d=+.17;

d=+.19), condom use (d=+.15;d=+.15),

oral sex (d=+.06;d=+.16), and attitudes

toward premarital sex (d=+.17;d=+.10)—

all in the direction of sexual behavior being

greater in men than women. The one excep-

tion was the frequency of same-sex sexual

behavior which was small but in the direc-

tion of females more than males (d=-.05;

d=-.03). The sex difference in attitudes

toward extramarital sex was small (d=+.01;

d=+.04), but the sex difference in extramari-

tal sex experiences was larger, in the direction

of men ( d=+.33;d=+.12).

In terms of attitudes, one area in which

sex differences are found is attitudes toward

homosexuality. Women reported more fa-

vorable attitudes than men toward gay men

(study 1:d=-.18; study 2:d=-.14), but

there were no sex differences in attitudes to-

ward lesbians (d=-.02;d=+.06). Gender

role and gender-role attitudes may be more

strongly linked to attitudes toward homo-

sexuality than sex per se. People who score

laboratory studies in which women and men

compete with a confederate, men who sub-

scribe to male gender-role norms are more

aggressive to women who violate the female

gender role than women who do not (Reidy

et al., 2009) and to gay men than heterosexual

men (Parrott, 2009). Women and men also re-

spond differentially to others based on status.

A laboratory study showed that women were

more aggressive toward a low-status than a

high-status person, whereas men were more

aggressive toward a high status than a low-

status person (Terrell, Hill, & Nagoshi, 2008)—

but this held only for men and women who

were evaluated as aggression-prone.

Sexuality

Are men the more “sexual” sex, or did the

sexual revolution and the women’s move-

ment place women and men on more equal

ground in the sexual arena? Again, the an-

swer depends on how sexuality is defined.

Petersen and Hyde (2010) conducted two

meta-analyses on sexual attitudes and sexual

DO GENDER 4.3

Perceptions of Aggressive

Behavior

Create two different scenarios of aggres-

sive behavior, one a more mild display of

aggression and one a more severe or mod-

erate display. For each scenario, manipu-

late the sex of the perpetrator and the sex

of the victim. You will have four different

versions of each of the two scenarios. Ask

a group of men and women to rate the

aggressive behavior in terms of severity.

Does the sex of the perpetrator, sex of the

victim, or sex of the respondent influence

perceptions? Does it depend on the sever-

ity of the aggression?

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