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1975, Harvard University) is an assistant professor at Vassar College. She is working on a long-range study concerning the patterning and antecedents of male-female relationships in cross-cultural perspective.The double standard of extramarital sex and the near universal restriction upon extramarital sex for wives are examined. The double standard is interpreted as a reflection of both male fears of sexual betrayal and male concern over sexual adequacy. Each of these dispositions is in turn traced to a different and independent child training antecedent. Restrictive norms for wives are explained in terms of the sociobiological paradigm. Extramarital sex norms are examined in relation to other sexual attitudes and practices.1 ntrodicction For a number of years, I have been conducting an extensive study of the patterning of sex norms and practices across cultures. In reviewing the ethnographic literature in preparation for that research, I was struck by the incongruity in attitudes regarding sexual behavior for males and females that regularly characterizes society after society, especially in the area of extramarital sex. Two trends in particular impressed me. First, while a majority of societies appear to condone extramarital sex for husbands, marital infidelity on the part of wives seems to be almost universally condemned. This initial intuition was later supported by a more objective analysis of the cross-cultural data. Sarah J. Greene and I have coded attitudes towards extramarital sex for males and females on the Murdock and White (1969) Standard Cross-Cultural Sample; of the 116 societies that could be rated on this variable, sixty-three societies approve of extramarital sex for husbands and a mere thirteen cultures permit it for wives (Broude and Greene 1976, n.d.).at Harvard Libraries on June 25, 2015 ccr.sagepub.com Downloaded from

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