What is it about?
Sigmund Freud's "Madonna-Whore Complex" describes a mindset that divides women into two categories: virtuous (Madonnas) and immoral (Whores). Recent research has examined how attitudes towards women’s sexual behavior fit into these categories across different cultures, but there has been little focus on the role of evolutionary history in shaping these beliefs. Our study was conducted with undergraduate students in Northwestern Mexico and explored this by examining how personal traits and experiences influence Madonna-Whore beliefs. The findings indicate that individuals who are more cautious and experience social conflicts or competitive behavior over romantic partners are more likely to hold these traditional beliefs. This research offers fresh perspectives on how personal experiences and life strategies affect attitudes toward female sexual behavior.
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Why is it important?
Our findings take a fresh approach to understanding how people view women’s sexuality by combining ideas from evolutionary psychology with traditional social science perspectives. While most research focuses on how society shapes views of women as either virtuous or immoral, this study explores how our evolutionary past might influence these beliefs.
Perspectives
Writing this article taught us a lot about a phenomenon that has always been viewed from a social perspective. In the Mexican population, this topic is often not given enough attention, so there hasn't been much effort to explain what the Madonna-Whore Complex (MWC) actually causes or why it happens. By looking at this issue through the lens of evolutionary psychology, we were able to provide a broader explanation for a social problem related to gender differences. We hope you find this article as interesting as we did while gathering and analyzing the information.
Cesar Octavio Tapia-Fonllem
Universidad de Sonora
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Madonna–whore complex: An empirical test of evolutionary hypotheses., Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, June 2024, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/ebs0000356.
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