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  • Title: Women's perceptions of female contraceptive behavior: experimental evidence of the sexual double standard.
    Author: Hynie M, Lydon JE.
    Journal: Psychol Women Q; 1995; 19(4):563-81. PubMed ID: 12291170.
    Abstract:
    A study was undertaken to expose the sexual double standard regarding the contraceptive behavior of unmarried young people. The study relied on an experimental method to allay concerns about socially appropriate responses on a questionnaire. This was achieved by presenting the study as a "social memory test" rather than as a study of the double standard. The hypothesis was that women who provide a condom during an initial, casual sexual encounter and those who engage in unprotected intercourse will both be devalued but in different ways. It was predicted that those who provide the condom will be perceived as permissive and those who engage in unprotected intercourse as foolish but not immoral. Data were analyzed from 57 female university students who were tested in small groups. Participants read one of three sets of diary entries (in one the man provided a condom, in another the woman did, and in the third they engaged in unprotected intercourse) and answered questions about the fictional writer. In their answers, the participants revealed their attitudes, made behavioral and interpersonal judgments, and assigned personality traits to the female fictional character. Of the 10 planned comparisons testing the hypothesis, all were supportive except one. When the woman was prepared with contraception, she was viewed more negatively by the participants and the participants believed that she was viewed more negatively by her partner. Similar research is necessary to explore men's attitudes towards women's contraceptive behavior and to determine whether initial sexual encounters are equally affected by the double standard if they occur within casual or serious relationships. The fact that the contraceptive in question was the male condom may also have affected results because the target may have been devalued for violating sex roles rather than for initiating a coitus-dependent method.
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