Female Courtship Strategies

F
em ale Cou rts h ip Str a te g ies
B ett y A. H arr is , C op yrigh t © 19 91
B rie f A bstr ac t
I n ord e r to desig n eff ectiv e in te rv e n tio ns to pro m ote sa fe r se xu a l b eha vio rs in hete ro se xua ls
w e must und ers tan d th e ba sic pro ce ss es th a t o cc ur durin g co u rts h ip th at lea d to risky s exu al
b e ha vio r in ne w re la tio n sh ip s. R eiss 's (19 60 ) so cio lo g ic a l th eo ry of se xu a lity s ta nd ard s has
b e en re in te rp re te d as th e psyc ho lo gic a l fa cto r w hic h co n str a in s the le ve l o f phys ic a l in tim acy in
d a tin g re la tio n sh ip s ( H
arris , 199 6 )
. T he ba sic pre m is e is th at t he fe m ale 's belie fs abo ut t he
a cc epta bili ty of se xu a l re la tio n s wi th a d atin g pa rtn e r is dep end en t up on h er ind iv id ua l
s e xu alit y s tan da rd s an d th e co nte xt o f the re la tion sh ip in whic h th e beh avio r occ urs . H ow do es
t he fe m ale con tr o l th e le ve l o f phys ic a l i ntim acy in a n ew re la tio nsh ip while de ve lop in g
e m otio na l re cip ro cit y wi th th e dating pa rtn e r? Perpe r and Weis , (1 9 87 ) have pro vid ed e vid en ce
t ha t fe m ale s exe rt a ctiv e con tr o l o ve r th e co u rts h ip p ro ce ss th ro ugh th eir use of pro ce p tiv e
s ig na ls and re je ctio n str a te g ie s. W e a ssert tha t th e fe m ale 's use of p ro ce ptiv e sig na ls and
r e je ction str a te gie s to co ntr o l th e p ro g re ss ion o f ph ys ic a l i ntim acy in a re la tion sh ip is a fu nction
o f he r se xu a lity s ta nd ard s and th e am ou nt of lo ve an d pu bli c c om m it m ent sh e perc e iv e s in the
r e la tion sh ip .
F em ale Cou rts h ip Str a te g ies as a F un ctio n
o f S ex u alit y Sta nd ard s a nd Perce ptio ns of
Lo ve a nd Com m it m en t
B etty A. H arris
U ntil th e 1990 's the wors t con se q uen ce of se xu al i nte rc o urs e was c on tr a ctin g a se xu