The Misperception of Sexual Interest
A recent 2012 study titled ?The Misperception of Sexual Interest?, by Carin Periolloux, Juditch A. Easton, and David M. Buss, examined how men and women differ with regard to their ability to perceive whether a member of the opposite sex is sexually interested in them. In an attempt to place subjects in a neutral setting, the participants interacted in a three minute ?speed dating? setting. This brief three minute interaction formed the basis upon which both members of the opposite sex would gauge whether or not they believed the other was sexually interested in them. It?s easy in this study to base your sexual interest on the other solely upon looks. While the study seems to allow for participants …show more content…
Each participant was instructed to fill out a survey, one that includes the rating of physical features. The results show the men?s scores for women were much high than the women?s scores for men. This is a result of men seeing the women much more attractive than the women believe they are. I agree with this type of survey being used in this study because viewing sexual interest on a number scale helps the reader to relate information from a different perspective. It is very easy to base your sexual interest on the physical attractiveness of a person within three minutes. However it is difficult to see past the physical aspect of sexuality and determine your sexual attractiveness towards a person based on an emotional aspect in three minutes. This study has an inherent bias in which the participant?s sexual attractiveness to the other participant is substantially affected by their personal opinion on what is attractive and what is not. Personality plays little part in this study because within the first few seconds of meeting, both participants have an understanding of sexual interest toward one another. The experiment leaves the participants with …show more content…
The study finds the opposite result in men., So, the study claims that while an attractive female may actually not have much sexual interest in a male who is equally as attractive, the male will generally always think the female is sexually interested simply based upon the fact that she is attractive. I disagree with this claim based on the fact that, as a woman, females are just as likely to over perceive a man?s sexual interest. For example, reputation is not a factor for all women or for all men, if a woman is sexually attracted to a man they are capable of acting upon it in whatever way they feel. A reason for the study to make this assumption could be because in society women are more subjective to negative outcomes when it comes to ?short-term mating?. The male in this type of situation is less likely to be scrutinized because the woman is considered promiscuous. I do believe this study is generalized and does not realistically reflect the sexual interest of men and women. I mostly disagree with this study because men and women can both over perceive each other?s sexual interest and sexual attractiveness. In this case it seems as though the men chosen are one who typically relies on short term mating and the women are more conservative of their sexuality. The three minute time period seems to pressure the participants to only focusing