Bare Market: Campus Sex Ratios, Romantic Relationships, and Sexual Behavior

Using a nationally-representative sample of college women, we evaluate the effect of campus sex ratios on women’s relationship attitudes and behaviors. Our results suggest that women on campuses where they comprise a higher proportion of the student body give more negative appraisals of campus men and relationships, go on fewer traditional dates, are less likely to have had a college boyfriend, and are more likely to be sexually active. These effects appear to stem both from decreased dyadic power among women on campuses where they are more numerous and from their increased difficulty locating a partner on such campuses