The Sexual Double Standard and Gender Differences in Predictors of Perceptions of Adult-Teen Sexual Relationships

Abstract

We study gender differences and the effects of adult's gender, an authority gap, and an age gap on university students' perceptions of adult-teen sexual relationships. We specifically examine: the adult's criminality, damage to the teen's reputation, and emotional damage to the teen. We use a sample of 2,871 students from a Southwestern university in the U.S. who judged vignettes describing an adult-teen encounter. OLS regression demonstrated that women judged the scenarios more negatively than men. Further analyses found relationships between the experimental variables and each dependent variable and interactions by respondent's gender and among the experimental variables. Results demonstrate a sexual double standard and highlight respondent's gender, the age gap, and the authority context for perceptions of adult-teen relationships.

Is It Love or Sexual Abuse? Young Adults' Perceptions of Statutory Rape

“…Further analyses revealed that negative perceptions and emotions partially mediated the significant relationship between younger partner age and disapproval of the older partner's behavior (Horvath & Giner-Sorolla, 2007). The second study by Sahl and Keene (2010) revealed similar results. A large, representative university sample of undergraduate and graduate students read about a statutory rape case involving a 15-year-old adolescent and a partner who was either 7 years older (i.e., 22 years old) or 27 years older (i.e., 42 years old).…”

“…Women also reported higher levels of negative emotions (e.g., anger and disgust) and greater perceived harm to the younger partner than men. Sahl and Keene (2010) found that, compared to men's perceptions, women's perceptions of damage to a teen partner's reputation were significantly more likely to be affected by the age gap between partners. These findings are corroborated by a robust and consistent body of research examining respondent gender differences in perceptions of child-adult and adolescent-adult sexual abuse cases (for a review, see Bottoms, Golding, Wiley, Stevenson, & Wozniak, 2007).…”

“…The ambiguousness and complexities of statutory rape laws, combined with the discrepancies Only a few empirical studies have examined factors that influence whether young adults perceive statutory relationships as a crime. The results of this work suggest that young adults' perceptions vary depending on the age difference between an adolescent and adult sexual partner and respondent gender (Horvath & Giner-Sorolla, 2007;Sahl & Keene, 2010).…”

“…On average, participants recommended almost 2 additional years in prison for the partner who was 27 years older compared to 7 years older. The 15-year-old partner was perceived to experience significantly more emotional harm and reputational damage for dating a partner who was 27 versus 7 years older (Sahl & Keene, 2010).…”

“…Horvath and Giner-Sorolla (2007) as well as Sahl and Keene (2010) found evidence that women, compared to men, rate adolescent-adult sexual activity as more harmful to the younger partners and render harsher judgments about the adult partner. Even though Horvath and Giner-Sorolla (2007) instructed participants that neither partner was physically harmed in a relationship between a 14-year-old and a 30-year-old, women still assigned more responsibility and harsher judgments to the older partner than did men.…”