Abstract
This study investigates the hypothesis that‘non-traditional’ gender role attitudes and‘masculine’ gender role traits or datingbehaviors are associated with unsafe sexual behaviorssuch as having a high number of sexual partners, the non-use ofcondoms and the use of alcohol or drugs before or duringintercourse. A self-report survey was completed by 400sexually active Australian women aged between 16 and 24 who attended two metropolitan FamilyPlanning clinics in Queensland, Australia. The findingsshow partial support for the hypothesis. Women with ahigher level of 'masculine' personality traits and egalitarian gender role attitudes were morelikely to have multiple partners and to use alcohol ordrugs with their most recent non-steady partner. Themultivariate relationships between gender roles and sexual behaviors are not as extensive as wouldbe proposed by gender role theory and previousresearch.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Antill, J. K., Bussey, K., & Cunningham, J. D. (1985). Sex roles: a psychological perspective. In N. T. Feather (Ed.), Australian psychology: Review of research. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Antill, J. K., Cunningham, J. D., Russell, G., & Thompson, N. L. (1981). An Australian sex-role scale. Australian Journal of Psychology, 33, 169–183.
Aral, S. O., & Guinan, M. E. (1984). Women and sexually transmitted diseases. In K. K. Holmes, P. A. Mardh, P. F. Sparling, & P. J. Wiesner (Eds.), Sexually transmitted diseases. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Archer, J. (1989). The relationship between gender-role measures: A review. British Journal of Social Psychology, 28, 173–184.
Archer, J. (1996). Sex differences in social behavior: Are the social role and evolutionary explanations compatible? American Psychologist, 51, 909–917.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (1994). CLIB91: 1991 Census of Population and Housing. [Database on Compact Disc.] Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics [Producer and Distributor.]
Baker, S. A., Morrison, D. M., Gillmore, M. R., & Schlock, M. D. (1995). Sexual behaviors, substance use, and condom use in a sexually transmitted disease clinic sample. The Journal of Sex Research, 32, 37–44.
Bassoff, E. S., & Glass, G. V. (1982). The relationship between sex roles and mental health: A meta-analysis of twenty-six studies. The Counseling Psychologist, 10, 105–112.
Beh, H. C. (1994). Gender rivalry and attitudes toward sex roles: Changes over a fifteen-year period. Psychological Reports, 74, 188–190.
Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155–162.
Buss, D. M. (1995). Psychological sex differences: Origins through sexual selection. American Psychologist, 50, 164–168.
Buss, D. M., & Schmitt, D. P. (1993). Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological Review, 199, 204–232.
Cates, W., & Stone, K. M. (1992). Family planning, sexually transmitted diseases and contraceptive choice: A literature update — Part 1. Family Planning Perspectives, 24, 75–84.
Chomak, S., & Collins, R. L. (1987). Relationship between sex-role behaviors and alcohol consumption in undergraduate men and women. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 48, 194–201.
Constantinople, A. (1973). Masculinity-femininity: An exception to a famous dictum? Psychological Bulletin, 80, 389–407.
DeLucia, J. L. (1987). Gender role identity and dating behavior: What is the relationship? Sex Roles, 17, 153–161.
Dunne, M., Donald, M., Lucke, J., Nilsson, R., & Raphael, B. (1993). 1992 HIV risk and sexual behaviour survey in Australian secondary schools: Final report. Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra.
Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex differences in social behaviour: A social role interpretation. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Family Planning Queensland. (1993). 22nd annual report 1992/1993. Brisbane: Author.
Fisher, M., Rosenfeld, W. D., & Burk, R. D. (1991). Cervicovaginal human papillomavirus infection in suburban adolescents and young adults. The Journal of Pediatrics, 119, 821–825.
Gerber, G. L. (1989). Gender stereotypes: A new egalitarian couple emerges. In J. Offerman-Zuckerberg (Ed.), Gender in transition: A new frontier. New York: Plenum Medical.
Glor, J. E., & Severy, L. J. (1990). Frequency of intercourse and contraceptive choice. Journal of Biosocial Science, 22, 231–237.
Huselid, R. F., & Cooper, M. L. (1992). Gender roles as mediators of sex differences in adolescent alcohol use and abuse. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 33, 348–362.
Johnson, A. M., Wadsworth, J., Wellings, K., & Field, J. (1994). Sexual attitudes and lifestyles. London: Blackwell Scientific Publications.
Judson, F. N., Ehret, J. M., Bodin, G. F., Levin, M. J., & Rietmeijer, C. A. M. (1989). In vitro evaluations of condoms with and without nonoxynol 9 as physical and chemical barriers against Chlamydia trachomatis, herpes simplex virus type 2, and human immunodeficiency virus. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 16, 51–56.
Laumann, E. O., Gagnon, J. H., Michael, R. T., & Michaels, S. (1994). The social organization of sexuality: Sexual practices in the United states. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lawrance, K., Taylor, D., & Byers, E. S. (1996). Differences in men's and women's global, sexual, and ideal-sexual expressiveness and instrumentality. Sex Roles, 34, 337–357.
Leary, M. R., & Snell, W. E. (1988). The relationship of instrumentality and expressiveness to sexual behavior in males and females. Sex Roles, 18, 509–522.
Leigh, B. C., Temple, M. T., & Trocki, K. F. (1994). The relationship of alcohol use to sexual activity in a U.S. national sample. Social Science and Medicine, 39, 1527–1535.
Lewis, V. J. (1988). Measuring attitudes to women: Development of the Women in Society Questionnaire (WSQ). Unpublished master's thesis, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Lottes, I. L. (1991). The relationship between nontraditional gender roles and sexual coercion. Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 4, 89–109.
Lottes, I. L. (1993). Nontraditional gender roles and the sexual experience of heterosexual college students. Sex Roles, 29, 645–669.
MacCorquodale, P. L. (1984). Gender roles and premarital contraception. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 46, 57–63.
McCabe, M. P. (1982). The influence of sex and sex role on the dating attitudes and behavior of Australian youth. Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 3, 29–36.
Milan, R. J., & Kilmann, P. R. (1987). Interpersonal factors in premarital contraception. The Journal of Sex Research, 23, 289–321.
Moore, S., & Rosenthal, D. (1980). Sex-roles: Gender, generation, and self-esteem. Australian Psychologist, 15, 467–477.
Morrison, D. M. (1985). Adolescent contraceptive behavior: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 538–568.
Morrison, D. (1989). Predicting contraceptive efficacy: A discriminant analysis of three groups of adolescent women. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 19, 1431–1452.
Norusis, M. J. (1993). SPSS for Windows Advanced Statistics Release 6.0. Chicago: SPSS, Inc.
Orlofsky, J. L. (1981). Relationship between sex role attitudes and personality traits and the Sex Role Behavior Scale — 1: A new measure of masculine and feminine role behaviors and interests. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 927–940.
Pleck, J. H., Sonenstein, F. L., & Ku, L. C. (1993). Masculinity ideology: Its impact on adolescent males' heterosexual relationships. Journal of Social Issues, 49, 11–29.
Potter, L. B., & Anderson, J. E. (1993). Patterns of condom use and sexual behavior among never-married women. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 20, 201–208.
Robinson, J. (1993). “Becoming aware...” women and HIV/AIDS. Canberra: Family Planning Australia.
Rosenzweig, J. M., & Dailey, D. M. (1989). Dyadic adjustment/sexual satisfaction in women and men as a function of psychological sex role self-perception. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 15, 42–56.
Seidman, S. N., & Rieder, R. O. (1994). A review of sexual behavior in the United States. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 330–341.
Smith, M., & Walker, I. (1992). The structure of attitudes to a single object: Adapting Criterion Referents Theory to measure attitudes to ‘woman#x2019;. British Journal of Social Psychology, 31, 201–214.
Spence, J. T. (1984a). Masculinity, femininity, and gender-related traits: A conceptual analysis and critique of current research. In B. A. Maher & W. B. Maher (Eds.), Progress in experimental personality research (Vol. 13). New York: Academic Press.
Spence, J. T. (1984b). Gender identity and its implications for the concepts of masculinity and femininity. In T. B. Sonderegger (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Vol. 32, Psychology and gender. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Pres.
Spence, J. T., & Helmreich, R. L. (1978). Masculinity & femininity: Their psychological dimensions, correlates, and antecedents. USA: University of Texas Press.
Sprecher, S., & McKinney, K. (1993). Sexuality. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Taylor, M. C., & Hall, J. A. (1982). Psychological androgyny: Theories, methods, and conclusions. Psychological Bulletin, 92, 347–366.
Traeen, B., Lewin, B., & Sundet, J. M. (1992). Use of birth control pills and condoms among 17–19-year-old adolescents in Norway: contraceptive versus protective behaviour? AIDS Care, 4, 371–379.
Whitley, B. E. (1983). Sex role orientation and self-esteem: A critical meta-analytic review. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 765–778.
Whitley, B. E. (1988). The relation of gender-role orientation to sexual experience among college students. Sex Roles, 19, 619–638.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lucke, J.C. Gender Roles and Sexual Behavior Among Young Women. Sex Roles 39, 273–297 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018806622585
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018806622585