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Sexual Script Theory: Past, Present, and Future

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Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

Since its formal introduction in the early 1970s, sexual script theory has been a popular conceptual framework among social scientists examining human sexuality. In this chapter the basic tenants, history, and foundational sources of sexual script theory are presented. Next, sexual script theory is compared to several other theoretical approaches in psychology and sociology that entail script concepts implicitly or explicitly. Researchers employing sexual script theory have tended to take two primary approaches to data collection and analysis: critical examination of cultural artifacts or previously published research results versus analysis of self-report data from respondents. These methods are examined and illustrative examples described, thereby highlighting research topics and questions to which sexual script theory has been applied. Last, the status of sexual script theory is critically examined, and future research directions proposed. Sexual script theory has played an important role in sex research, but resolution of key criticisms and unanswered questions is necessary for the advancement of sexual script theory beyond its frequent use as a convenient metaphor.

All the World’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players.

(Shakespeare, As You Like It)

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  1. University of South Carolina School of Medicine-Greenville, 29605, Greenville, SC, USA

    Michael W. Wiederman

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  1. Michael W. Wiederman
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Correspondence to Michael W. Wiederman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    John DeLamater

  2. Department of Sociology, Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, USA

    Rebecca F. Plante

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Wiederman, M. (2015). Sexual Script Theory: Past, Present, and Future. In: DeLamater, J., Plante, R. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17341-2_2

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