relationships
Reputations suffer from 'hooking up'
- Article by: AISHA SULTAN , St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Updated: September 10, 2012 - 3:49 PM
Research shows that both men and women are equally likely to take hits.
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Once upon a time, college girls perceived as "loose" suffered from damaged reputations among their peers, while guys who did the same gained status for their sexual exploits.
This promiscuity double-standard no longer exists in the minds of many college students, according to new research presented at the American Sociological Association.
Nearly half of college students judge men and women with similar sexual histories by the same standard and hold equally negative attitudes toward those who they believe hook up "too much," according to the study from the University of Illinois at Chicago's Department of Sociology.
"Men and women are increasingly judging each other on the same level playing field," said Rachel Allison, co-author of the study and a doctoral candidate, in a release about the results. "While we've come a long way in terms of gender equality, it seems that a large portion of both college men and women lose respect for individuals who they believe participate in too frequent casual sexual activity."
Interestingly, women were more likely to judge each gender equally negatively for perceived promiscuity, with approximately 54 percent of the study's females and more than 35 percent of males falling in this egalitarian category.
Women were also less likely than men to hold a traditional double standard. Only 6 percent of women reported having those beliefs, compared with nearly 25 percent of men.
Male athletes and Greek-affiliated men were much more likely than men who weren't to hold on to the traditional double standard.
The researchers also discovered a "reverse" double-standard, in which 13 percent of students judged men negatively for frequent hook-ups but not women.
Those most likely to hold a reverse double standard? Sorority sisters living in Greek housing.
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