The reverse sexual double standard and the contribution of gendered ingroup bias: The case of infidelity

Termin

24.02.2026, 10:00 – 11:30 Uhr, in Präsenz, Online-Teilnahme möglich

Referentin

Dr. Anna Zamberlan, LMU München

Zusammenfassung

Drawing on the frameworks of the Sexual Double Standard (SDS) and the Social Identity Approach (SIA), this study examines how gender influences perceptions of infidelity acceptability. While the SDS suggests that judgments vary depending on the gender of the unfaithful individual, SIA highlights the role of the evaluator’s own gender through ingroup biased moral judgements. Using data from a factorial survey experiment implemented in the German Family Panel (pairfam, wave 11, 2018/19), we analyzed responses from 7,772 participants who evaluated the acceptability of infidelity in fictitious scenarios (22,743 vignette ratings). Random-intercept multilevel linear models revealed a Reverse Sexual Double Standard (R-SDS): unfaithful women were judged more leniently than unfaithful men. This R-SDS was entirely driven by female respondents, highlighting the influence of gender-based ingroup bias in shaping evaluations of infidelity behavior. Robustness checks revealed no heterogeneous treatment effect for any of the tested female subgroups. We conclude that the R-SDS is driven by a female ingroup bias as women are in general more understanding towards their own gender when it comes to infidelity.

Vortragssprache

Englisch