Is There Really a Link Between Self-Esteem and Casual Sex?

Despite conventional wisdom, research suggests otherwise

We’ve all heard the notion that someone who engages in casual sex is doing it not because they actually enjoy the sexual activity, but because they are being driven by low self-esteem that propels them into the arms, and the beds, of strangers.

People who enjoy casual sex obviously have their doubts about this idea, but also researchers question the wisdom of this alleged connection.

“Stereotypes like this can have serious consequences in the real world.”

“We were surprised that this stereotype was so widely held,” said researcher Jaimie Arona Krems, who explored this topic in a study published in Psychological Science. “This stereotype was held by both women and men, liberals and conservatives, and across the spectrum in terms of people’s levels of religiosity and sexism.”

To look into this stereotype, Krems and her colleagues conducted a series of surveys with about 1,500 participants to find out their views on how low self-esteem is connected to engaging in casual sex. In one survey, participants were asked to read about the sex lives of male, female, and unspecified characters who engaged in one-night stands or monogamous sex. When asked whether or not each of these characters had low self-esteem, respondents were more likely to believe that the women who had casual sex suffered from low self-esteem, while no such connection was made about their male counterparts.

“We were surprised that this stereotype was so widely held.”

In another survey, people were asked if a man or woman who has casual sex was more likely to be “an English major” or “an English major with low self-esteem,” and researchers found that most respondents again connected the woman’s sexual behavior with low self-esteem. In fact, they held on to this belief even when given evidence to the contrary.

“When we explicitly told participants that the women who had casual sex were enjoying it and were satisfied with their sexual behavior, participants still stereotyped them as having lower self-esteem than women in monogamous relationships who were unsatisfied with their sexual behavior,” Krems explained. “Although not grounded in reality, the stereotype documented in this work may have harmful effects. Stereotypes like this can have serious consequences in the real world.”

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Source:

Persistent Stereotypes Falsely Link Women’s Self-Esteem to Their Sex Lives. Association for Psychological Science. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/self-esteem-stereotypes