Dating scripts are the cognitive models that guide individuals dating interactions. In one study, first dates were highly scripted along gender lines. The males followed a proactive dating script, the females a reactive one. The males script involved initiating the date, controlling the public domain, and initiating sexual interaction. The females script focused on the private domain, participating in the structure of the date established by the male, and responding to his sexual advances. These gender differences give males more power in the initial stage of a dating relationship.

In another study, male and female adolescents brought different motivations to the dating experience. The 15-year-old girls were more likely to describe romance in terms of interpersonal qualities, the boys in terms of physical attraction. The young adolescents frequently mentioned the affiliating qualities of companionship, intimacy, and support as positive aspects of romantic relationships, but not love and security. Also, the young adolescents described physical attraction more in terms of cute, pretty, or handsome than in sexual terms. Possibly the failure to discuss sexual interest was due to the adolescents discomfort in talking about such personal feelings with an unfamiliar adult.

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Dating scripts also refers to Software that powers dating Websites.

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