Psychologists reveal benefits teenage girls get from kissing boys

USA: Psychologists have claimed teenage girls make friends by snogging boys, but lose them if they choose to have sex.

Experts from Pennsylvania State University said kissing actually made young women more popular, as long as they didn't leap into bed with their beau.

The opposite is true with boys, who win over new mates if they go all the way.

"In our sample of early adolescents, girls' friendship networks shrink significantly after they have sex, whereas boys' friendship networks expand significantly," said Derek A. Kreager, associate professor of sociology and criminology at Pennsylvania State University.

"But what really surprised us was that 'making out' showed a pattern consistent with a strong reverse sexual double standard, such that girls who 'make out' without having sex see significant increases in friendships, and boys who engage in the same behavior see significant decreases in friendships.

To perform their investigation into the sociology of snogging, Kreager and his team monitored the sexual behaviour of two groups of teens from rural communities in Pennsylvania.

The amorous adolescents were asked about their private lives at regular intervals from the ages of 11 to 16, naming their best friends as well as the various sex acts they had engaged in.

If girls had sex with a boy, their "peer acceptance" level dropped by 45%, whilst boys' leaped by 88%.

But when the girls had only kissed the boys, their acceptance jumped by 25%, whereas young chaps' own levels dropped by 29%.

"Our results are consistent with traditional gender scripts,"Kreager added.

"Men and boys are expected to act on innate or strong sex drives to initiate heterosexual contacts for the purpose of sex rather than romance and pursue multiple sexual partnerships

"In contrast, women and girls are expected to desire romance over sex, value monogamy, and gatekeep male sexual advances within committed relationships.

"A sexual double standard then arises because women and girls who violate traditional sexual scripts and have casual and/or multiple sexual partnerships are socially stigmatized, whereas men and boys performing similar behaviors are rewarded for achieving masculine ideals."