Today I found an article all about conformation bias and how it affects the sexual double standard. This was an interesting perspective because it asks the question which came first. The article talks about how people treat the double standard differently when they were aware of the double standard. They will recognize instances in which the double standard existed. Conformation bias is the idea that people have a tendency to recall information that confirms an idea. Examples of this would be If An employer who thinks that an employer is highly intelligent may spend more time to only information that is consistent with the belief that the employer is very smart. An example that apply to the sexual double standard that they describe in this article would be when someone is aware of the double standard, they will recognize instances in which the double standard existed instead of instances where there was no double standard at all.
According to the article, people generally don't evaluate sexual activity in men and women differently, however (Marks, 19) at the same time 93% of women in one study said that they feel that women are judged more harshly than men. This is where conformation bias comes into play, The theory is that people fail to encode or undervalue information that goes against the sexual double standard. (Marks, 20) To test this theory, they created a one paragraph fictional journal entry telling of one persons sexual history. They were randomly assigned whether the person was a male or a female. They then had to rate how many positive and negative comments were made about the characters sexual behavior. This study showed that there was actually no interaction between gender, men were rated the same as women. (Marks, 22)
According to the article, people generally don't evaluate sexual activity in men and women differently, however (Marks, 19) at the same time 93% of women in one study said that they feel that women are judged more harshly than men. This is where conformation bias comes into play, The theory is that people fail to encode or undervalue information that goes against the sexual double standard. (Marks, 20) To test this theory, they created a one paragraph fictional journal entry telling of one persons sexual history. They were randomly assigned whether the person was a male or a female. They then had to rate how many positive and negative comments were made about the characters sexual behavior. This study showed that there was actually no interaction between gender, men were rated the same as women. (Marks, 22)
In the second study, participants were told to write out all the comments made about the characters sexual behavior, both positive or negative. Results showed that negative comments made about the female target more often. These results show that perhaps the double standard only exists because people perceive that it does exist. If we take into consideration the fact that more times than not, there is no double standard we may be one step closer to making this an invalid stereotype. (Marks, 22)
Below is a really good video that gives a better example of what conformation bias is, as well as a graph that can show exactly what the sexual double standard is. As you can see, men are praised for being sexually active while for women, it is the opposite.
Marks, Michael J. "Confirmation Bias and the Sexual Double Standard." Sex Roles Vol. 54(2006): 19-26. SpringerLink. Web. 1 Nov. 2011. <http://www.springerlink.com/content/f448v1hm5320m738/>.
So often I think in society women feel like they are weighed down by the double standard. I honestly think that women believe they can't do what a man can and be given the same reaction by their peers. This article provided a fresh perspective about this issue, that maybe the double standard thing isn't as prevelant as we all think.
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