Sexual Standards

Sexual standards are attitudes about appropriate sexual behaviors. They are typically measured by asking people to agree or disagree with statements about the acceptability of particular kinds of behaviors, for each gender, at different stages of a relationship. In 1964, Ira Reiss published a widely used scale that asked about kissing, petting, and full sexual relations for an unmarried male and for an unmarried female when engaged to be married, when in love, when feels strong affection, and even if does not feel strong affection for the partner. Acceptability was found to be lower for more intimate behaviors, but greater at later stages of a relationship.

In 1988, Susan Sprecher and her colleagues updated the scale by changing the behaviors to be more specific: heavy petting (defined as touching of genitals), sexual intercourse, and oral-genital sex. The stages of relationship were changed to the mutually exclusive categories of first date, casually dating, seriously dating, pre-engaged and engagement. They also asked about different ages: 16, 21, and 26 years. They found that the biggest differences were between casually dating and seriously dating, and between ages 16 and 21, with less approval for casually dating and for teenagers. Other researchers have simplified the measurement by asking only about sexual intercourse when in a casual relationship and when in love. Research on predictors of sexual attitudes has examined gender, religiosity, social class, culture, parents, and peers.

A major concern has been to examine whether a sexual double standard exists. Traditionally, women have been expected to remain virgins until marriage, whereas men are supposed to be ready to have sex whenever possible. When a child is born, it is obvious who the mother is, but there may be uncertainty about the father; hence, men have traditionally tried to control women's premarital and extramarital sexual behavior to ensure their own paternity. Sometimes respondents have rated premarital sex as more acceptable for men than for women and at other times as equally acceptable for men and women. More consistent has been higher acceptability ratings by men than by women. Since birth-control pills and legal abortion have become available, the risk of pregnancy has been reduced, and the gender gap in ratings of permissibility has narrowed. But a double standard still persists to some degree. In particular, women who have many sexual partners are still viewed more negatively than men.

Religiosity is often related to sexual attitudes. The ancient Hebrews had a marginal subsistence and emphasized procreation for group survival, condemning any sexual activity that did not lead to reproduction in the family. This prohibition was passed down to modern Jews and Muslims, who both trace their ancestry to sons of Abraham, as well as to the Catholic Church, which extended the ban to modern birth control and abortion. As a result, many people feel guilty about sexual arousal and any sexual activities, and this can lead to negative sexual attitudes even in marriage.

In the past, lower socioeconomic groups were more favorable to premarital sexual intercourse, but less favorable toward masturbation and oral sex. These differences have decreased as sexual behaviors have generally become more acceptable since the 1970s. Immigrant groups often express more negative attitudes about sexual behaviors, whereas later generations are more permissive. Cross-cultural studies have found more permissive attitudes in cultures that are more economically advanced. This may be related to education; women who are better educated generally want fewer children and are more likely to use birth control.

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