Chapter 23 Quiz: Gender, Sexuality, and Scripts
Instructions: Choose the best answer for each question. Some questions ask you to apply concepts; others test comprehension of research findings.
1. Gagnon and Simon's concept of the "sexual script" operates at which of the following levels?
a) Biological only b) Cultural, interpersonal, and intrapsychic c) Individual preference and social enforcement d) Genetic, environmental, and relational
Answer: b — Gagnon and Simon's framework identifies three levels: cultural scripts (publicly available narratives), interpersonal scripts (situational negotiation between actors), and intrapsychic scripts (internal narratives and fantasies).
2. The traditional heterosexual courtship script most consistently assigns which roles?
a) Women as initiators, men as gatekeepers b) Men as objects of desire, women as desiring subjects c) Men as initiators and pursuers, women as regulators and gatekeepers d) Both parties as simultaneous co-initiators
Answer: c — Research across multiple decades consistently finds that the traditional script assigns men the initiation and pursuit role, and women the regulatory/gatekeeping role.
3. Research on men's experience of the initiation script finds which of the following?
a) Men report more enjoyment of initiation than any cost b) Men's romantic self-esteem is largely independent of courtship success c) Men report significantly more rejection experiences than women, consistent with their initiation role d) Fear of rejection does not significantly affect men's approach behavior
Answer: c — Research by Frieze and colleagues found that men report more rejection experiences, a logical consequence of the initiation asymmetry in the traditional script.
4. The "desire ambivalence" concept in section 23.4 refers to:
a) Men's uncertainty about whether they want casual or committed relationships b) Women's rational management of desire expression in response to social penalties for appearing "too forward" c) Bisexual people's uncertainty about which gender they prefer d) The general human discomfort with expressing romantic interest
Answer: b — Desire ambivalence specifically describes women's management of desire expression as a rational response to social costs — not confusion about desire itself, but constraint on its expression.
5. Laner and Ventrone's (2000) research on date behavior appropriateness found:
a) Students consistently preferred egalitarian scripts in both attitude and behavioral ratings b) Students rated traditional-script behaviors as more appropriate even when they personally favored egalitarian outcomes c) Traditional script endorsement was limited to older students; younger students showed fully egalitarian ratings d) Women rated female initiation as appropriate; men rated it as inappropriate
Answer: b — The key finding was a gap between stated preference for egalitarianism and normative judgment of traditional scripts as more "appropriate" — a pattern that holds across genders.
6. The "partial-revision trap" described in section 23.6 refers to:
a) The failure of any feminist reforms to change courtship norms at all b) Cultural script revision that adds new behavioral options without removing old constraints, expanding women's burden rather than redistributing it c) The tendency of scripts to change in attitude but not in behavior d) Media's selective adoption of egalitarian norms for economic reasons
Answer: b — The partial-revision trap describes a situation where women can now both initiate AND still be expected to regulate — more options without removed constraints.
7. Research on bisexual courtship experiences most commonly finds:
a) Bisexual people feel equally at home in heterosexual and LGBTQ+ community spaces b) Bisexual people face stigma primarily from heterosexual communities but acceptance in gay/lesbian spaces c) Bisexual people face double stigma: from heterosexual communities reading them as "really gay" and from gay/lesbian communities questioning their commitment to queer identity d) Bisexual people's courtship patterns are indistinguishable from heterosexual patterns
Answer: c — The "double stigma" (Mulick & Wright, 2002) is the consistent finding: stigma from both heterosexual and gay/lesbian communities.
8. The relationship between traditional courtship scripts and sexual violence, as argued in section 23.9, is best characterized as:
a) The traditional script directly causes sexual violence b) The "he pursues, she resists" structure provides cultural cover for coercive behavior by making coercion behaviorally indistinguishable from persistence c) Research shows no significant relationship between script adherence and violence risk d) The relationship is primarily mediated by alcohol consumption in courtship contexts
Answer: b — The argument is not deterministic causation but structural cover: the same behavioral sequence describes both "romantic persistence" and coercive pursuit, making coercion culturally legible as normal courtship.
9. What does England, Mishel, and Caudillo's (2019) research on Gen Z college students find about the sexual double standard?
a) The sexual double standard has disappeared entirely in Gen Z samples b) Attitudinal endorsement of equality and behavioral enforcement of the double standard persist simultaneously — "cultural lag" c) Gen Z shows higher double standard enforcement than millennial samples d) The double standard has reversed: women now face lower social costs for sexual activity than men
Answer: b — The key finding is "cultural lag": attitude change (equality endorsement) precedes behavioral change (double standard enforcement), creating a gap between stated values and actual behavior.
10. Which of the following best describes the "intrapsychic script" in Gagnon and Simon's framework?
a) The legal regulations governing sexual behavior in a given jurisdiction b) The biologically driven impulses that motivate sexual behavior c) The internal fantasies, desires, and self-narratives an individual brings to sexual encounters — shaped by social learning d) The interpersonal negotiation between two actors in a specific encounter
Answer: c — Intrapsychic scripts are the most private level of the framework — internal narratives and fantasies — but are nonetheless socially shaped, not purely biological.
11. Script theory's claim that sexual behavior is "scripted" means:
a) Sexual behavior is predetermined by biology and cannot be changed b) Sexual behavior is organized by learned cultural narratives that specify roles, sequences, and meanings, while still allowing for individual improvisation c) Sexual behavior in all cultures follows identical universal patterns d) Scripts are external to individual actors and cannot be consciously modified
Answer: b — Script theory describes scripts as structuring intelligible moves without fully determining any individual performance — like grammar rules rather than stage directions. Biology is not excluded but is not primary.
12. Which research finding most directly demonstrates the normative force of courtship scripts even when they are not followed?
a) Men initiate more often than women in observational studies b) Women manage desire expression to avoid social penalties c) Students rate traditional-script behaviors as more "appropriate" even when they personally prefer egalitarian alternatives d) The sexual double standard persists in Gen Z samples
Answer: c — The most direct demonstration of normative force (as distinct from behavioral influence) is the gap in Laner and Ventrone between personal preference and normative judgment — the script shapes what feels "correct" even independently of personal endorsement.