Selecting a Partner
Research indicates that men and women are interested in different characteristics when looking for their partners.
Men and Women:
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A recent study, in which participants were asked to rate photographed models in terms of their attractiveness and social status demonstrated the following results:
- When the photographed models were shown alone there was a negative correlation between the attractiveness rating and the models age, meaning that the models were rated as more attractive if they were younger.
- For males, social ratings were positively correlated with age, meaning that older men were seen as having a higher social status.
- For females, there was no significant correlation with a women social status ratings and their age.
Gleitman, H., Gross, J., & Reisberg, D. (2011). Psychology (Eighth ed.). NY: W W Norton & Company.
Gouda-Vossos, A., Dixson, B. J., & Brooks, R. C. (2016). Sexual Conflict and Gender Gap Effects: Associations between Social Context and Sex on Rated Attractiveness and Economic Status. Plos ONE, 11(1), 1-14. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146269
Gouda-Vossos, A., Dixson, B. J., & Brooks, R. C. (2016). Sexual Conflict and Gender Gap Effects: Associations between Social Context and Sex on Rated Attractiveness and Economic Status. Plos ONE, 11(1), 1-14. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146269
Double Standards in Our Dating Lives
Double Standard: a set of principles that applies differently and usually more rigorously to one group of people or circumstances than to another; especially : a code of morals that applies more severe standards of sexual behavior to women than to men
Research indicates that women and men are seen differently when placed in the same situation. A study in which participants were asked to rate photographed models on their attractiveness and social status (recall that these to aspects are essential when looking for a partner) when accompanied by a partner of the same or opposite gender revealed the following:
- Men were rated higher in attractiveness when they were shown with a person of the opposite sex rather than alone or someone of the same sex.
- Women were rated as the least attractive by both men and women when they were shown with someone of the same sex.
- Men received a higher rate of social status if they were shown with someone of the same sex.
- Women were rated the highest in social status when they were shown alone and lowest when they were shown with someone of the opposite sex.
Another study conducted by Hailee Dunn and other researchers from the University of Brown revealed an association between adolescent sexual behavior and bullying victimization. The study indicated that:
- Female adolescents were two times more likely to be bullied if they were sexually active compared to male adolescents
- Adolescents that are bullied are also more likely to display depression and suicidal ideation. Females being slightly more likely to display these problems.
- The results of the study demonstrate that there is a difference in the way sexually active adolescences are seen, and that the double standard is making it easier for females to becomes targets of bullying.
Professor Mary Crawford from the University of Connecticut stated that in adulthood, "The sexual double standard is still with us but difficult to pin down in research because it is not ‘cool’ to acknowledge it. Students want to present themselves as sexually sophisticated, and may deny views that seem dated. This is why the double standard shows up in subtle measures … more than direct ones.”
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/double%20standard
http://www.browndailyherald.com/2014/09/22/sex-bullying-linked-girls-study-suggests/
http://www.whijournal.com/article/S1049-3867(14)00085-1/abstract?cc=y=
Gouda-Vossos, A., Dixson, B. J., & Brooks, R. C. (2016). Sexual Conflict and Gender Gap Effects: Associations between Social Context and Sex on Rated Attractiveness and Economic Status. Plos ONE, 11(1), 1-14. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146269
http://www.browndailyherald.com/2014/09/22/sex-bullying-linked-girls-study-suggests/
http://www.whijournal.com/article/S1049-3867(14)00085-1/abstract?cc=y=
Gouda-Vossos, A., Dixson, B. J., & Brooks, R. C. (2016). Sexual Conflict and Gender Gap Effects: Associations between Social Context and Sex on Rated Attractiveness and Economic Status. Plos ONE, 11(1), 1-14. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146269
Pornography in Our Dating Lives
A growing problem in today's society is the expansion and popularity of the pornography industry.
- Young boys are growing up thinking that their sexual lives have to model those portrayed by the pornography industry.
- Boys/Men are being socialized to see women as nothing more than sexual objects that are there to please their desires
- Women worth is dissipating as men are no longer respecting women as their partners
- Having adolescents engaged with pornography is making relationships less realistic based on the partners physicality rather than the connection between the two individuals.
- It is more difficult for men to sustain healthy relationships because they have grown up seeing an incorrect interaction between men and women through pornographic videos.
In the following video Gail Dines discusses the problems that are occurring in our society as a result of pornography.