Our sexual experience is as variable as most people. Some people like casual sex, while others find it best to be intimate with a partner. But if people knew about your sexual past, what would they think? Researchers at NTNU have tried to find an answer to this. And they believe that some of the sexual prejudices that are often talked about are just a myth. For example: Is it true that men with many partners achieve a certain hero status, while women who have a lot of sex are labeled as easy going? Quite the contrary, the new research shows. – Glad it’s not true Pia Jordan is 24 years old and a student at Nord University in Steinkjer. She thinks the subject of the new study is very interesting. – This is something you have heard growing up, that women are whores if they lie around and that men achieve a certain status. I am happy that this is not true, and that it is revealed through this research, she says to news. She herself has what she calls a healthy group of friends around her. They are very clear that there should not be such double standards in society. – If it is to be the case that I am a whore for lying around, then he must be too, says the student. Pia Jordan thinks it’s good to hear that these well-known prejudices are just a myth. Photo: Julie Haugen Egge / news Jealousy, masturbation and infidelity When the researchers in this case talk about double standards, it is about operating with two different sets of requirements and expectations – one for men and another for women. More than 900 Norwegian heterosexual students participated in the new study. The majority of these were then not in a relationship. All participants answered a questionnaire. Here they had to assess 12 different sexual behaviours. They then had to estimate how likely they were to recommend a friend to enter into a sexual relationship with these potential partners. Either in a short-term or long-term relationship. The topics included the number of sex partners, jealousy, infidelity, controlling behavior and masturbation. And according to the researchers, the results show that people are far more liberal than one might think. Men are judged more severely The material was assessed based on a theory of sexuality and partner choice. This theory is about how men and women assess long and short relationships differently. – This is a topic we in the research group have been discussing for many years. It is also related to both preferences in partners and sexual harassment, something we have researched for a long time, says Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair to news. He is professor of psychology at NTNU and has worked out the new study in collaboration with three other researchers. – For long-term relationships, we found no double standard. For short relationships, men are judged more strictly, i.e. the opposite of what you might think, says Kennair. So according to the new research, men with many sexual partners were considered less attractive for a “one night stand” than women in the same situation. Which is the exact opposite of what you might actually think. And regardless of gender, long-term relationships are judged more strictly than short ones, the researchers say. This means that the requirements are higher for both sexes if you want to enter into a long-term relationship. Leif Edward Kennair has previously studied both which flirting techniques work, and what infidelity does to a relationship. Photo: Aurora Nordnes This is not good Student Pia Jordan is in a relationship herself. She says one of the most important factors for her is security. Being able to trust each other and know what the other does in everyday life. But if she has to consider some of the same points as the participants in the study did, what is decisive for entering into or avoiding a relationship? Controlling behavior and infidelity (jealousy) Many sexual partners Happy to masturbate – The number of sexual partners depends a lot. If you’ve been single all your life and have had 30 sex partners, it doesn’t matter to me. It is perhaps more about what these relationships were like and how they ended. And his attitudes towards them, says Jordan. The same goes for masturbation. That’s perfectly fine, says the student. However, she is very skeptical of controlling behaviour. It is not something you want. – When it comes to adultery, I’m actually a bit unsure. It also depends a lot. What situation was the person in? I don’t believe that someone who cheats once will automatically cheat again. Perhaps not so surprisingly, the answers of the 24-year-old are not very different from the results of the study. The student considers which factors would have mattered to her if she had considered a potential boyfriend. Photo: Julie Haugen Egge / news Sexy to masturbate The results show that both sexes, regardless of the length of the relationship, do not think infidelity and controlling behavior are okay. This is something people avoid if they can. When it comes to the point about masturbation, most people are less judgmental. Here, women judge men more harshly. In contrast, men find it sexy when women masturbate, states Professor Kennair. It is perhaps a little surprising that the study shows that we are less demanding when choosing partners for our friends than for ourselves. – This is about the fact that we have different standards for ourselves than we have for others in the sexual area. Our findings show that we consider partners who are promiscuous and who have a history of infidelity and jealousy to be less relevant for us than for a same-sex friend. This is what NTNU professor Mons Bendixen says to news, who is also one of the researchers behind the study. Student Pia Jordan thinks the opposite. – I have probably been less critical of my former partners than of my girlfriends. But it’s more because it’s a little easier to be mean to yourself. And you don’t want to be that towards your friends. Then you want them to stand up for themselves, says the student.
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Sexual double standards have little root in reality – researchers call it a myth – news Trøndelag
