The horny man think women want him too: Present-state sexual arousal affects single men’s interpretations of women’s sexual willingness

Does the horny man think women want him too? Effects of male sexual arousal on perceptions of female sexual willingness. Peter O. Rerick,Tyler N. Livingston &Deborah Davis. The Journal of Social Psychology, Nov 13 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2019.1692330

ABSTRACT: Disputes over acquaintance rape typically center on the issue of whether the alleged victim consented to sex. Disputed sexual encounters often take place when one or both involved parties is sexually aroused, and this arousal might influence the extent to which the parties perceive sexual consent. Two studies tested the effects of men’s sexual arousal on their interpretations of the extent to which 25 hypothetical female behaviors reflected sexual willingness. Arousal was manipulated via written fantasies (Study 1) or exposure to erotic material (Study 2). Manipulated arousal and individual differences in rated arousal were each associated with greater perceptions of female sexual willingness. Manipulated arousal was significant only for single men in Study 2. Findings suggested present-state sexual arousal affects single men’s interpretations of women’s sexual willingness. Men’s sexual arousal might prominently contribute to misunderstandings in sexual communication.

KEYWORDS: Sexual assault, sexual arousal, rape, overperception, perceived consent

General discussion

Together the results of Studies 1 and 2 further support the link between men’s sexual arousal and perceptions of women’s sexual willingness. In Study 1, the arousal manipulation led men to interpret more sexual intent from women’s behaviors, and this result was most powerful for those who were single. Study 2 appeared to have a less powerful arousal manipulation, and thus only induced higher interpretations of sexual intent in single men. Unsurprisingly, the type of manipulation used to induce arousal does seem to matter, sexual fantasies exerting a stronger effect than visual stimuli. Results demonstrated that single men’s perceptions of women’s sexual willingness, and in turn their consent to sex, can be affected by present-state sexual arousal.

In Study 1, the effect of arousal on perceptions of sexual willingness was medium-sized (d = .39) for single participants but nonsignificant for non-single participants, although the interaction between arousal condition and relationship status was non-significant. We observed a significant interaction between these variables in Study 2, despite the comparatively less powerful manipulation of arousal. The difference in the observed interaction could have been due to the way relationship status was coded in both studies. In Study 1, participants who had regular contact with potential sexual partners but who were not in an “official” relationship might have indicated that they were single. Comparatively, Study 1 reduced the ambiguity of responses by asking participants to selfcategorize simply as single or non-single.

Both studies supported the findings of Bouffard and Miller (2014) that self-reported sexual arousal is positively related to interpretations of sexual intent underlying women’s behaviors. Both studies also establish preliminary evidence that single men rely more strongly than those in relationships on present-state sexual arousal when interpreting women’s sexual intentions. Given the dearth of literature on this specific topic we cannot rule out the possibility that individual differences in arousal are confounded with other individual differences, but we found no evidence of such a confound with any difference measured in these two studies. None were correlated with selfreported arousal. It should also be noted that differences in self-reported arousal are a function of both individual differences in tendencies to be sexually aroused or to become sexually aroused in response to sexual stimuli, and the manipulation of arousal. Thus, it may be premature to speculate regarding the nature of individual differences that might explain our results or those of Bouffard and Miller (2014). One individual difference that should receive closer attention is relationship status. Only Study 2 found a significant interaction between relationship status and arousal condition, and neither showed a difference in self-reported arousal between single and non-single participants. Despite these inconsistencies, we still observed more powerful effects of the arousal manipulation for single (vs. non-single) participants in both studies. Arguably, the issue of misperception of sexual intent is most important for the single population.

Although our studies did not test any explanations of this effect of relationship status, the effect might be explained in part by differences in motivated cognition. Perhaps those in relationships, who regularly have their sexual needs satisfied, do not feel any need to perceive sexual intent in women’s behaviors. In contrast, aroused single men are more motivated to perceive sexual interest among women because sex for these men is a relatively scarce resource. Or, when aroused, men in relationships might think of their partners and have no need to see sexual interest in other women. Single men might not direct their sexual interest to a specific woman and therefore might read more into the behavior of all women. This difference might also be due to the reference population men are thinking of when they answer these questions. If men in relationships are imagining what it means when their partners, who they are extremely familiar with, engage in these sometimes-ambiguous behaviors, they might be able to think up many more reasons for these behaviors besides desiring sex. Single men might only be thinking about women abstractly, and without specific knowledge of qualities like personalities, political and religious preferences, etc., might be less able to think up reasons for ambiguous behaviors outside of sexual interest.

At this point, this difference needs replication before it can be considered reliable. Only one study showed a significant interaction between relationship status and manipulated arousal, even though both studies showed the simple effect of arousal was significant within single males and not within non-single males. Importantly, for the more powerful manipulation of arousal (that of Study 1), the effect of the arousal manipulation was significant overall. For the weaker manipulation of arousal (that of Study 2), the manipulation was successful only for single men. The possibility remains that with an even more powerful arousal manipulation than that of Study 1, the manipulation might be comparably effective for both populations.