Both men and women perceived women with nipple erection as less intelligent, less moral, more likely to engage in sexual behaviors, & as having poorer sexual health & less sexually manipulative

 Burch, R. L., & Widman, D. R. (2022). The point of nipple erection 3: Sexual and social expectations of women with nipple erection. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, Sep 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000312

Abstract: If nipple erection signals/is a cue to sexual interest or arousal, we would expect that women with nipple erection would be sexualized: having a presumed higher sexual arousal and promiscuity and lower mental abilities and morality. To examine this, 234 participants rated pictures of women with and without salient nipple erection (faces were obscured to eliminate facial cues). Participants completed a hypothetical sexual behavior profile (30 items including perceptions of morality and intelligence) for each stimulus photo. Both men and women perceived women with nipple erection as less intelligent, less moral, and more likely to engage in sexual behaviors. These are the primary markers of sexual objectification. They also rated these women as having poorer sexual health and being less sexually manipulative. Men perceived all the women in the stimulus photos as being less moral and having more male sexual partners, indicating that men objectified the stimuli overall more than women. Women reported that women with erect nipples had more male sex partners, lost their virginity at a younger age, and had lower quality relationships. In summary, female nipple erection, which is an uncontrollable reflex, triggers sexualization and objectification by both men and women who observe it.

Impact Statement: Nipple erection is a cue that triggers sexualization and objectification of women; women with nipple erection are thought of as less intelligent, less moral, and more promiscuous by both men and women. Women cannot control their nipple erection, yet these data show that it is used by men and women to make presumptions about women’s character and behavior.