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Gender and Ethnic Variation in Emerging Adults’ Recalled Dating Socialization in Relation to Current Romantic Attitudes and Relationship Experiences

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Abstract

We investigated emerging adults’ retrospective accounts of the family and peer socialization in relation to possible sexual double standards. With a sample of 672 ethnically diverse emerging adults (M = 19.4 years; 51% female), we tested whether recalled socialization messages about dating liberally (i.e., dating multiple persons) predicted women’s and men’s current preferences to date liberally (i.e., to date multiple persons) and dating relationship experiences (number of lifetime sexual partners and current romantic satisfaction). As expected, recalled socialization messages predicted current attitudes about dating liberally; and current attitudes were negatively related to relationships satisfaction and positively to number of sexual partners. Ethnicity moderated the association between gender and socialization to date liberally. Findings highlight the potential of families and peers to influence relationship attitudes and outcomes within diverse cultural contexts.

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Funding

The research was supported by a Cota-Robles Fellowship at the University of California, Santa Cruz to Brenda Gutierrez, faculty grant to May Ling Halim from California State University Long Beach, and a faculty grant to Campbell Leaper at University of California, Santa Cruz. The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The raw data, analysis code, and materials used for this study are not openly available but are available upon request to the corresponding author.

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Correspondence to M. Anais Martinez.

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Martinez, M.A., Gutierrez, B.C., Halim, M.L.D. et al. Gender and Ethnic Variation in Emerging Adults’ Recalled Dating Socialization in Relation to Current Romantic Attitudes and Relationship Experiences. Sexuality & Culture 25, 2208–2230 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-021-09873-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-021-09873-2

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