In 1993, reseachers Suzanna Rose and Irene Hanson Frieze asked 135 undergraduates to describe what had happened on their most recent first date:

Women	Men
Groomed and dressed	Picked up date
Was nervous	Met parents/roommates
(Man:) Picked up date	Left
Introduced to parents, etc.	Picked up friends
(Man:) Courtly behavior (open doors)	Confirm plans
Left	Talked, joked, laughed
Confirm plans	Went to movies, show, party
Got to know & evaluate date	Ate
Talked, joked, laughed	Drank alcohol
Enjoyed date	Initiated sexual contact
Went to movies, show, party	Made out
Ate	Took date home
Drank alcohol	Asked for another date
Talked to friends	Kissed goodnight
Had something go wrong	Went home
(Man:) Took date home
(Man:) Asked for another date
(Man:) Told date will call her
(Man:) Kissed date goodnight
Went home

Of the 20 actions reported by women, 6 were initiated by the man. Of the 15 actions reported by men, none were initiated by the woman.

Thirty-three respondents reported something going wrong. “[O]ne young man had car trouble after picking up his date and was mortified by having to take her back home. Another’s date abandoned her at a party and began to cruise other women, leaving the woman to fend for herself. Embarrassing events were also common. One participant reported having made a fool of herself by throwing the ball backward while bowling; another woman got extremely upset when her date insisted it was ‘love at first sight.'”

“A third type of interruption … was related to perceived violations of gender roles, such as ‘He lost points for not opening my car door’ and ‘We went out to eat later at Pizza Hut and she was a pig.'”

(Suzanna Rose and Irene Hanson Frieze, “Young Singles’ Contemporary Dating Scripts,” Sex Roles 28:9/10, 1993.)