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Courtship in the personals column: The influence of gender and sexual orientation

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Abstract

Eight hundred personal advertisements were analyzed, representing an equal sampling of male and female homosexual and heterosexual advertisers on the East and West Coast of the United States. In general, men were more concerned with physical characteristics, while women stressed psychological factors. Homosexuals were more concerned with sexuality, while heterosexuals specified a broader range of characteristics. Significant interactions between gender and sexual orientation point to the importance of sex-role expectations in the heterosexual context and suggest substantial differences between males and females who choose homosexuality.

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Deaux, K., Hanna, R. Courtship in the personals column: The influence of gender and sexual orientation. Sex Roles 11, 363–375 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287465

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287465

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