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School of Psychology
USING THE SOCIAL NORMS APPROACH TO
EXPLORE GENDER DIFFERENCES IN HOOKING
UP BEHAVIOUR IN AN EMERGING
ADULTHOOD POPULATION
Elaine Byrnes
Doctoral Researcher, School of Psychology,
National University of Ireland, Galway
School of Psychology
Overview
• Introduction to relevant theories
• Predictors of Risky Sexual Behaviour
• Consequences of Risky Sexual Behaviour
Psychological
Consent
Theory of Emerging Adulthood
• Arnett (2000, 2004, 2006) defines it as a distinct developmental stage
• There are identifiable characteristics – identity explorations, instability, self-focus
• There are three main factors to this historically embedded and culturally constructed concept
• College experience is highly relevant to social and relationship exploration
School of Psychology
Social Norms Theory
• Describes situations in which individuals incorrectly perceive the attitudes and/or behaviours of peers and other community members to be different from their own when in fact they are not (Perkins and Berkowitz, 1986)
• This phenomenon has been called “pluralistic ignorance”
School of Psychology
Social Norms Theory
• These misperceptions occur in relation to problem or risk behaviours
(which are usually overestimated)
• And in relation to healthy or protective behaviours
(which are usually underestimated)
• One of the effects of pluralistic ignorance is to cause individuals to change their own behaviour to approximate the misperceived norm
• May also provide a useful explanatory device for casual sexual activity in an emerging adulthood population
School of Psychology
What is Hooking Up?
• Hooking up is generally understood as brief, uncommitted sexual encounters among individuals who are not romantic or dating partners
• Arnett’s emerging adulthood perspective directs attention to young adulthood as a period where the exploration of risk and opportunity can give rise to threats to health and well-being
• Among heterosexual emerging adults of both sexes hook-ups have become more acceptable
School of Psychology
Predictors of Risky Sexual BehaviourGender
• Owen et al., (2010) demonstrated gender differences in reactions to hooking up, with almost twice as many men as women reporting a positive experience
• Hooking up is more positively associated for men than women, psychologically
• May be due to the greater social acceptability of non-dating sexual behaviour for men (Crawford & Popp, 2003)
• Role stereotypes - its evolution!
School of Psychology
Predictors of Risky Sexual BehaviourAlcohol
• Dantzer et al. (2006) found that Irish university students had one of the highest consumption rates for alcohol internationally at 94%. NO gender differences
• For women there are stricter injunctive norms (Social Norms Theory) regarding sexual behaviour than for men. If alcohol consumption reduces sexual inhibitions its effects may be more noticeable in the case of women and in the case of acts involving casual sexual partners
School of Psychology
Research Findings on Social Norms Misperceptions
School of Psychology
Psychological Consequences of Social Norm Misperceptions for Females
• Women may feel more regret about casual sex as engaging in it violates the “standards” for female sexual behaviour
• Zeelenberg (1999) defined regret as a negative emotion that one feels when remembering the past and imagining the present would be different if one had behaved differently
• Regrets can result from acting in a certain way (regrets of action or commission) or from failing to act (regrets of inaction, or regrets of omission) Oswalt et al., (2005)
School of Psychology
Addressing these Social Norms Misperceptions through Smart Consent Workshops
School of Psychology
CONSENT IS…..
Affirmative = The presence of a YES (Not just the absence of a NO)
Active = Silence is not consent, participation is not consent
Freely Given = Not something you can be pressured into giving; it can be revoked at any time and is never implied. People cannot give consent if they are unconscious or incapacitated by drugs or alcohol
!!!!!!ENTHUSIASTIC!!!!!!
