Vrangalova et al. (2013) conducted a study to examine the moderators of individuals' negative views of promiscuous women. It is commonly maintained that there exists a sexual "double standard" where men's promiscuous behavior is positively viewed by society, but promiscuous women are shunned, particularly by men. The researchers sought to confirm the hypothesis—originating in evolutionary psychology—that "slut shaming" is actually a more salient feature of same-sex platonic relationships between females, owing to female intrasexual competition for desirable male mates.

A group of university students (N = 758, 75% female) who were stated by the researchers to be generally "not very religious" and "politically liberal" were asked to complete an anonymous survey pertaining to the personality traits they found desirable in a potential same-sex friend. They were asked to read two vignettes, one being portrayed as more promiscuous than the other. The participants' own level of sexual permissiveness was measured using the sociosexual orientation survey (measuring participants' favorable attitudes towards casual sex, their libido, and promiscuous sexual behavior).

It was found that women viewed promiscuous women as less competent, warm and emotionally stable, regardless of their own level of permissiveness. They viewed promiscuous women more negatively than the more chaste women in all respects except for viewing more promiscuous women as being more extroverted. While expressing a general aversion for promiscuous behavior in women, the men in the study didn't perceive the more permissive women as possessing more negative personality characteristics. In fact, men viewed more promiscuous women as being more competent and emotionally stable. Non-permissive men perceived promiscuous women as less desirable friendship candidates.

Because promiscuous women were viewed in a more negative fashion by other women, regardless of those womens' own permissive sexual beliefs and practices, it is likely that this negative perception originates from the perspective that promiscuous women are seen by other women as potential competition. Thus, "slut shaming" can be best understood as a function of a female tendency to derogate other women they see as sexual competitors.

Another explanation of women's intrasexual competition by slut shaming is that men prefer non-promiscuous women because men want certainty that the offspring they invest in is theirs (Reynolds 2018).

  • As predicted, compared to the non permissive target, participants expressed greater need for mate guarding from permissive targets, preferred them less with respect to morality, were more likely to dislike their sexuality, and less likely to like their sexuality. Women and non permissive men also rated the permissive target lower on friendship desirability.
  • A double standard emerged for preferences regarding four specific personality dimensions, including competence, emotional stability, warmth, and dominance. Whereas women preferred the non-permissive target in all four dimensions, men showed preference for the permissive target in the first two, and no preference in the last two dimensions.
  • There was also no moderation of participant permissiveness in disliking of sexuality, and in preferences regarding competence, dominance, extraversion, and emotional stability.
  • This is consistent with sexual strategies theory that men benefit from many partners and are less selective than women; for women, the advantage of many partners is limited and the cost can be substantial (Buss & Schmitt, 1993). Thus, a man who has managed to attract many partners is particularly successful and assumed to be confident and emotionally secure. The acquisition of many sexual partners by a woman, on the other hand, is not a difficult achievement and is therefore interpreted as resulting from low self-esteem.

References: