Sexual Double Standard: a Cross-Cultural Comparison of Young Adults Spanish, Peruvian, and Ecuadorian People

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The sexual double standard (SDS) implies men and women are being evaluated differently as regards sexuality. To date, no cross-cultural comparisons have been made regarding the prevalence of the various forms that adherence to SDS takes. This research work describes differences among Spain, Peru, and Ecuador in the prevalence of three different types of adherence to the SDS (egalitarian, man-favorable, and woman-favorable), which refer to sexual freedom and sexual shyness in 18–25-year-old youths. Method A sample of 2229 heterosexual adults (34.2% Spanish, 33.7% Peruvian, and 32.1% Ecuadorian) answered the Sexual Double Standard Scale. Participants were collected between September 2019 and March 2021. Results The results showed differences between countries, both in the total sample and in the sample of men and women separately, and in conducts related to sexual freedom and sexual shyness. The most prevalent typologies were as follows: the egalitarian typology in Spain, the man-favorable typology in Peru and Ecuador, and the woman-favorable typology in Ecuador. Conclusion These findings conclude that the socio-structural conditions of how resources are distributed between men and women could be related to the prevalence of different gender-related sexual norms. In those contexts in which the gender-egalitarian sexual norm prevailed, resources were more equally distributed between men and women. Policy Implications It highlights the role of the socio-structural conditions in the distribution of resources between men and women and the differences between men and women, to understand the cross-cultural differences in the prevalence of SDS adherence types.