Editing Double standard

{{Short description|Inconsistent application of principles}}
{{For|the money usage|Bimetallism}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
A '''double standard''' is the application of different sets of [[principle]]s for situations that are, in principle, the same.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of double standard |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/double-standard|access-date=2020-07-27|website=dictionary.com|language=en}}</ref> It is often used to describe treatment whereby one group is given more latitude than another.<ref>{{cite web |title=double standard |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/double-standard |website=collinsdictionary.com |publisher=[[HarperCollins Publishers]] |access-date=3 March 2019 |format=Web article}}</ref> A double standard arises when two or more people, groups, organizations, circumstances, or events are treated differently even though they should be treated the same way.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/double-standard|title=double standard Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary|website=dictionary.cambridge.org|language=en|access-date=9 June 2018}}</ref> A double standard "implies that two things which are the same are measured by different standards".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eichler |first1=Margaret |location=London, U.K.|title=The Double Standard: A Feminist Critique of Feminist Social Science |date=1980 |publisher=[[Croom Helm]] |isbn=978-0-85664-536-5 |page=15 |language=en |type=Print}}</ref>

Applying different principles to similar situations may or may not indicate a double standard. To distinguish between the application of a double standard and a valid application of different standards toward circumstances that only ''appear'' to be the same, several factors must be examined. One is the [[sameness]] of those circumstances – what are the parallels between those circumstances, and in what ways do they differ? Another is the [[philosophy]] or [[belief system]] informing which principles should be applied to those circumstances. Different standards can be applied to situations that appear similar based on a qualifying [[truth]] or [[fact]] that, upon closer examination, renders those situations distinct (a [[Physical world|physical]] reality or [[moral]] obligation, for example). However, if similar-looking situations have been treated according to different principles and there is no truth, fact or [[principle]] that distinguishes those situations, then a double standard has been applied.

If correctly identified, a double standard usually indicates the presence of [[hypocrisy]], [[bias]] or [[Injustice|unjust]] behaviors.

==Causes and explanations==
Double standards are believed to develop in people's minds for a multitude of possible reasons, including: finding an excuse for oneself, emotions clouding judgement, twisting facts to support beliefs (such as [[confirmation bias]]es, [[cognitive bias]]es, attraction biases, [[prejudice]]s or the desire to be right). Human beings have a tendency to evaluate people's actions based on who did them.

In a study conducted in 2000, Dr. Martha Foschi observed the application of double standards in group competency tests. She concluded that [[Social status|status]] characteristics, such as [[gender]], [[ethnicity]] and [[socioeconomic class]], can provide a basis for the formation of double standards in which stricter standards are applied to people who are perceived to be of lower status. Dr. Foschi also noted the ways in which double standards can form based on other socially valued attributes such as [[beauty]], [[morality]], and [[mental health]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Foschi |first1=Martha |title=Double Standards for Competence: Theory and Research |journal=[[Annual Review of Sociology]] |year=2000 |volume=26 |pages=21–42 |publisher=Annual Reviews |language=en|jstor=223435 |doi=10.1146/annurev.soc.26.1.21 }}</ref>

Dr. Tristan Botelho and Dr. Mabel Abraham, Assistant Professors at the [[Yale School of Management]] and [[Columbia Business School]], studied the effect that gender has on the way people rank others in financial markets. Their research showed that average-quality men were given the benefit of the doubt more than average-quality women, who were more often "penalized" in people's judgments. Botelho and Abraham also showed that women and men are similarly risk-loving, contrary to popular belief. Altogether, their research showed that double standards (at least in financial markets) do exist around gender. They encourage the adoption of controls to eliminate [[gender bias]] in application, hiring, and evaluation processes within organizations. Examples of such controls include using only initials on applications so that applicants' genders are not apparent, or auditioning musicians from behind a screen so that their skills, and not their gender, influence their acceptance or rejection into orchestras.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Dr. Tristan Botelho |author2=Dr. Mabel Abraham |title=Pursuing Quality: How Search Costs and Uncertainty Magnify Gender-based Double Standards in a Multistage Evaluation Process |journal=Administrative Science Quarterly |date=1 December 2017 |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=698–730 |doi=10.1177/0001839217694358 |s2cid=157322669 |url=https://www.gendereconomy.org/double-standards-in-evaluation/ |access-date=9 March 2019 |language=en |format=Journal article|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Practices like these are, according to Botelho and Abraham, already being implemented in a number of organizations.

==Common areas==
{{See also|Double standard of aging}}

===Gender===
It has long been debated how someone's [[gender role]] affects others' [[moral]], [[social]], [[Politics|political]] and [[Law|legal]] responses. Some believe that differences in the way men and women are perceived and treated is a function of social norms, thus indicating a double standard. For example, one claim is that a double standard exists in society's judgment of women's and men's sexual conduct. Research has found that casual sexual activity is regarded as more acceptable for men than for women.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vrangalova Ph.D. |first1=Zhana |title=Is Our Sexual Double Standard Going Away? |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/strictly-casual/201403/is-our-sexual-double-standard-going-away |work=[[Psychology Today]] |publisher=[[Sussex Publishers]], LLC |access-date=20 February 2019 |format=Web article |date=3 March 2014}}</ref> According to William G Axinn,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Axinn |first1=William G. |last2=Young-DeMarco |first2=Linda |last3=Ro |first3=Meeso Caponi |date=2011-03-01 |title=Gender Double Standards in Parenting Attitudes |journal=Social Science Research |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=417–432 |doi=10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.08.010 |issn=0049-089X |pmc=3035381 |pmid=21318125}}</ref> double standards between men and women can potentially exist with regards to: [[dating]], [[cohabitation]], [[virginity]], [[marriage]]/[[remarriage]], [[sexual abuse]]/[[Sexual assault|assault]]/[[Sexual harassment|harassment]], [[domestic violence]] and [[singleness]].

Kennair et al. (2023) found no signs on a sexual double standard in long or short-term mating contexts, nor in choosing a friend. They did find however that women's self-stimulation was judged positively, and men's self-stimulation was judged negatively.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Examining the Sexual Double Standards and Hypocrisy in Partner Suitability Appraisals Within a Norwegian Sample|journal=Evolutionary Psychology|author=Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Andrew G. Thomas, David M. Buss ja Mons Bendixen|doi=10.1177/14747049231165687|date=27 March 2023|volume=21 |issue=1 |pmid=36972495 |pmc=10303487 |s2cid=257772494 |doi-access=free}}</ref> A 2017 study of American college students also found no evidence of a gendered double standard around [[promiscuity]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stewart-Williams |first1=Steve |last2=Butler |first2=Caroline A. |last3=Thomas |first3=Andrew G. |date=2017 |title=Sexual History and Present Attractiveness: People Want a Mate With a Bit of a Past, But Not Too Much |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27805420/ |journal=Journal of Sex Research |volume=54 |issue=9 |pages=1097–1105 |doi=10.1080/00224499.2016.1232690 |issn=1559-8519 |pmid=27805420|s2cid=25336484 }}</ref>

===Law===
A double standard may arise if two or more groups who have equal legal rights are given different degrees of legal protection or representation. Such double standards are seen as unjustified because they violate a common [[Legal maxim|maxim]] of modern legal [[jurisprudence]] - that all parties should stand equal before the law. Where [[judge]]s are expected to be impartial, they must apply the same standards to all people, regardless of their own subjective [[biases]] or [[In-group favoritism|favoritism]], based on: [[social class]], [[Social rank|rank]], [[Ethnic group|ethnicity]], [[gender]], [[sexual orientation]], [[religion]], age or other distinctions.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

===Politics===
A double standard arises in [[politics]] when the treatment of the same political matters between two or more parties (such as the response to a public crisis or the allocation of funding) is handled differently.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Double Standards? |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/9588/chapter-abstract/156620309?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=academic.oup.com}}</ref> 

Double standard policies can include situations when a country's or commentator's assessment of the same phenomenon, process or event in [[international relations]] depends on their relationship with or attitude to the parties involved.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ibrahimi |first=Ibrahim |date=1987 |editor-last=Chomsky |editor-first=Noam |title=Double-Standards in International Politics |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2536668 |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=168–170 |doi=10.2307/2536668 |jstor=2536668 |issn=0377-919X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In ''[[Harry's Game]]'' (1975), [[Gerald Seymour]] wrote: "One man's [[terrorist]] is another man's [[freedom fighter]]".<ref>{{Citation|last=Farooqi|first=Anis|title=Gujral, Satish|year=2003|work=Oxford Art Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t035630|isbn=9781884446054 }}</ref>

=== Ethnicity ===
Double standards exist when people are preferred or rejected on the basis of their ethnicity in situations in which ethnicity is not a relevant or justifiable factor for discrimination (as might be the case for a cultural performance or ethnic ceremony).

The intentional efforts of some people to counteract [[racism]] and ethnic double standards can sometimes be interpreted by others as actually perpetuating racism and double standards among ethnic groups. Writing for ''[[The American Conservative]]'', [[Rod Dreher]] quotes the account published in ''[[Quillette]]'' by [[Coleman Hughes]], a black student at [[Columbia University]], who said he was given an opportunity to play in a backup band for Grammy Award-winning pop artist [[Rihanna]] at the 2016 [[MTV Video Music Award]]s Show. According to Hughes, several of his friends were also invited; however, one of them was fired and replaced because, according to Hughes, his white Hispanic background did not suit the all-black aesthetic that Rihanna's team had chosen for her show. The team had decided that all performers on stage were to be black, aside from Rihanna's regular guitar player.<ref name=Dreher>{{cite news |last1=Dreher |first1=Rod |title=The Racial Double Standard |url=https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/coleman-hughes-racial-double-standard/ |access-date=9 March 2019 |work=The American Conservative |date=5 June 2018}}</ref> Hughes was uncertain about whether he believed this action was unethical, given that the show was racially themed to begin with. He observed what he believed to be a double standard in the entertainment industry, saying, "if a black musician had been fired in order to achieve an all-white aesthetic — it would have made front page headlines. It would have been seen as an unambiguous moral infraction."<ref name=Dreher/> 
Dreher argues that Hughes's observations highlight the difficulty in distinguishing between the exclusion of one ethnic group in order to celebrate another, and the exclusion of an ethnic group as the exercise of racism or a double standard. Dreher also discussed another incident, in which ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' columnist [[Bari Weiss]], who is Jewish, was heavily criticized for tweeting, "Immigrants: They get the job done", in a positive reference to [[Mirai Nagasu]], a Japanese-American Olympic ice skater, who Weiss was trying to honor.<ref name=Dreher/> The public debate about ethnicity and double standards remains controversial and, by all appearances, will continue.

==See also==
{{Portal|Society}}
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Discrimination]]
* [[Double bind]]
* [[Doublethink]]
* [[Golden Rule]]/[[ethic of reciprocity]]
* [[Honne and tatemae]]
* [[Hypocrisy]]
* [[In-group and out-group]]
* [[In-group favoritism]]
* [[Nordic sexual morality debate]]
* [[Political hypocrisy]]
* ''[[Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi]]''
* [[Psychological projection]]
* [[Reciprocity (social and political philosophy)]]
* [[Social exclusion]]{{Div col end|Moral Duality=}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Axinn, William G., et al. "Gender Double Standards in Parenting Attitudes." ''[[Social Science Research]]'', vol. 40, no. 2, 2011, pp.&nbsp;417–432., doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.08.010.
* {{Cite book | last=Pollmann | first=K. | title=Double Standards in the Ancient and Medieval World | publisher=[[Duehrkohp & Radicke]] | year=2000 | isbn=978-3-89744-110-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s31wQgAACAAJ | access-date=30 November 2017 }} 327 pages.
* {{Cite book | last=Henrard | first=K. | title=Double Standards Pertaining to Minority Protection | publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers | series=Nijhoff eBook titles | year=2010 | isbn=978-90-04-18579-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DnqhSgAACAAJ | access-date=30 November 2017 }} 440 pages.
* Hudspeth, Christopher. "8 Modern Day Double Standards." ''Thought Catalog'', 26 July 2012, thoughtcatalog.com/cehudspeth/2012/07/8-modern-day-double-standards/.
* {{Cite book | last=Peterson | first=N. | title=Studs and Sluts: Virginity-loss Scripts and Sexual Double Standards Among College-age Students | publisher=[[Coe College]] | year=2015 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iszejwEACAAJ | access-date=30 November 2017 }} 127 pages.
*{{cite book |title=Double Standard: Social Policy in Europe and the United States |first1=James W. |last1=Russell |year=2011
|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=978-1442206595 |type=E-book |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield Publishers]]}}
* Thomas, Keith. "The Double Standard." ''Journal of the History of Ideas'', vol. 20, no. 2, Apr. 1959, pp.&nbsp;195–216., doi:10.2307/2707819.
* {{Cite book | last=Wood | first=B. | title=World Order and Double Standards: Peace and Security 1990-91 | publisher=[[Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security]] | year=1991 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VSaYAQAACAAJ | access-date=30 November 2017 }} 37 pages.

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[[Category:Injustice]]
[[Category:Barriers to critical thinking]]
[[Category:Discrimination]]
[[Category:Social inequality]]
[[Category:Cognitive dissonance]]
[[Category:Hypocrisy]]
[[Category:Bias]]