Why and how men and women often misjudge sexual signals

Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 18 Sep 2004 - 18:00 PDT

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Men often misinterpret a woman's innocent smile or compliment as a sexual come-on--but why? Gender stereotypes imply that men are socialized to oversexualize the world. But research suggests there are real evolutionary reasons that men and women get their signals crossed.

In two studies reported in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Martie G. Haselton, Ph.D., and David M. Buss, Ph.D., both University of Texas-Austin psychology professors, asked over 500 college students to picture themselves on a date. The students then used imagined acts like holding hands or giving compliments to rate their companion's and their own sexual interest and level of commitment.

The researchers discovered that men tended to overestimate women's sexual interest, while women underestimated men's willingness to commit. But interestingly enough, both men and women were more accurate in rating women's commitment levels, and when asked to imagine that the sexual target was their sister, men rarely misread sexual intent. CONTINUES..........cms.psychologytoday.com

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