A test of three hypotheses concerning attributions toward female promiscuity

We performed two experiments to test three alternative hypotheses concerning negative attributions toward sexually promiscuous females. The first two possibilities are based on female-to-female negative attributions. The first hypothesis, the Competition Hypothesis, states that females could be using a negative attribution towards other females for derogation purposes when in competition for a mate. Second, the Self-esteem Hypothesis states that females could be using negative attributions towards other females to build Self-esteem. Finally, according to the Social Norm Hypothesis, both males and females see female promiscuous behaviors as deviant thereby resulting in negative attributions towards the women who perform them. In both experiments, the Social Norm Hypothesis received more support than the other two hypotheses.