Everything's Better in Moderation: Young Women's Gender Role Attitudes and Risky Sexual Behavior

Abstract

PurposeThis study examines the association between gender role attitudes and risky sexual behavior among young women. Previous studies have posed seemingly contradictory arguments: that either traditional attitudes or egalitarian attitudes are associated with riskier behavior. MethodsData are based on the children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, representing 520 sexually active 18-19-year-old women. Propensity radius matching was used to assess differences in rates of multiple sexual partners and sex outside of a committed relationship. ResultsRelative to moderate gender role attitudes, both egalitarian gender role attitudes and traditional gender role attitudes are associated with higher rates of risky sexual behavior. Both women with egalitarian role attitudes and those with traditional role attitudes have about a 10% higher prevalence of risky behavior compared to women with more moderate gender role attitudes. ConclusionExisting, seemingly contradictory contentions about the relationship between gender role attitudes and risky sexual behavior may be more coherent than they seem. By shifting focus from risk to protection, the results suggest that moderate gender role attitudes are protective against risky sexual behavior. Future studies should investigate the causal mechanisms and intervention implications of this protective relationship. Keywords: Gender role; Premarital sex behavior; Women's role 2 Everything's Better in Moderation: Young Women's Gender Role Attitudes and Risky Sexual BehaviorGender roles and gender role attitudes continue to greatly influence American adolescents' everyday experiences, especially as they relate to social outcomes that determine power within relationships (such as women's economic standing and exposure to violence). Girls' career choice goals [1] and women's labor market experience [2] and monetary earnings [3] are heavily shaped by their gender role attitudes. In addition, gender role attitudes have some bearing on women's exposure to violence. Traditional gender role attitudes among men have been found to underlie rape scripts [4], and traditional beliefs among women are associated with tolerant perceptions of men's violence toward women [5].Despite this connection to power dynamics within relationships, the influence of young women's gender role attitudes on risky sexual behavior in the United States remains unclear. [16]. There is a paucity of empirical research testing these ideas -individually or in conjunction -among women in the United States. Therefore, this article examines the relationship between gender role attitudes and risky sexual behavior -specifically, rates of casual sex and multiple sex partners -in a national sample of at-risk young women. The Risk of Traditional Gender AttitudesScholars suggest that a belief in traditional feminine roles can lead to risky sexual behavior in two primary ways: (1) through hyperfemininity and (2) by discouraging women from successfully negotiating sexual encounters. Murnen and Byrne [17] outline th...

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“…This makes sense because this reflects gender nonconformity, in relation to social norms. Moreover, it is consistent with previous findings (Leech, 2010;Lucke, 2008). Specifically, women who hold more masculine values are more likely to deviate from social norms where gender roles are deeply embedded.…”

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