Factors Influencing University Students’ Explicit and Implicit Sexual Double Standards

Abstract

Quantitative research has resulted in inconsistent evidence for the existence of a sexual double standard, leading Crawford and Popp (2003) to issue a call for methodological innovation. The Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) is a measure that may provide a means to examine the double standard without the contamination of the demand characteristics and social desirability biases that plague self-report research (Marks & Fraley, 2005). The purpose of this study was to examine the factors influencing explicit and implicit double standards, and to examine the relationship between these explicit and implicit double standards, and levels of socially desirable responding. One hundred and three university students completed a sexual double standard IAT, an explicit measure of the double standard, and measures of socially desirable responding. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that levels of socially desirable responding were not related to implicit or explicit double standards. Men endorsed a stronger explicit traditional double standard than women, whereas for implicit sexual standards, men demonstrated a relatively gender-neutral evaluation and women demonstrated a strong reverse double standard. These results suggest the existence of a complex double standard, and indicate that more research of sexual attitudes should include implicit measures.