DISASSEMBLING A STEREOTYPE - GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE USE OF TOKEN RESISTANCE

Traditionally, women have been perceived as using token resistance to avoid appearing desirous of sexual activity and to gain some degree of restrictive control in heterosexual dating interactions. In the curre nt study, we examined both men's and women's use of token resistance a nd the reasons they attributed for their use of this dating behavior. A total of 108 male and 199 female heterosexual college students compl eted the Dating Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) used to examine the use o f token resistance, as well as a number of attitudinal and behavioral measures. An ANOVA revealed that a higher percentage of men than women reported the use of token resistance. The types of reasons men and wo men attributed to their behavior did not differ. Token resistance repo rtedly served a number of functions, including an expressive game-play ing function. Most interactions were perceived by both men and women a s being pleasant, despite concerns by researchers that token resistanc e may be associated with a partner's subsequent use of sexual coercion . Thus, token resistance does not appear to be indicative of adverseri al relations. The findings are discussed in terms of the benefits for men and women of relaxing the constraints of traditional gender roles with regard to dating behavior.