Editing Going steady (section)

==Peer opinions==

The trend toward having a single, exclusive romantic partner was accompanied by growing disapproval among peers of those who dated multiple partners.<ref name="weigel">{{cite book |last1=Weigel |first1=Moira |title=Labor of Love |date=2016 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=9780374182533 |pages=102–127}}</ref> Sexual experimenting outside of the steady relationship had the consequence of being labelled promiscuous.<ref name="breines" />

While a small study in 1940 and 1941 found some peer disapproval of going steady, by 1960 it was widely accepted and only a small minority of peers disapproved.<ref name="flc" /> Contemporary studies found that going steady was viewed as a stage toward marriage by some participants, while to others it was a common social behavior with no goal of marriage.<ref name="flc" /> The seriousness of intent when going steady often differed between classes: students with plans to attend college took a high school steady relationship less seriously than working class students who would be more likely to view it as a relationship that might progress to marriage.<ref name="spurlock" />

Going steady was recognized and sanctioned by peer groups,<ref name="spurlock" /> and provided a form of status similar to being engaged.<ref>{{cite book|author1=H. Elizabeth Peters|author2=Claire M. Kamp Dush|title=Marriage and Family: Perspectives and Complexities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HdA7AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA24|date=16 July 2009|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-52002-7|page=24}}</ref> Friends and acquaintances recognized the relationship and had expectations of acceptable behavior when going steady. For example, when one cannot attend an event, the other is expected to be absent as well. Other boys should not ask the girl out, and the girl should not date or flirt with other boys.<ref name="guide" />