Projection of Romantic and Sexual Desire in Opposite-Sex Friendships

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
pp. 864-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward P. Lemay ◽  
Noah R. Wolf
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Opposite Sex

No pain, no gain: Perceived partner mate value mediates the desire-inducing effect of being hard to get during online and face-to-face encounters

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 2510-2528
Author(s):  
Gurit E. Birnbaum ◽  
Kobi Zholtack ◽  
Harry T. Reis
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Effective Strategy ◽  
Mate Value ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Common Strategy ◽  
Opposite Sex

Playing hard to get is a common strategy used to attract mates. Past research has been unclear about whether and why this strategy facilitates mate pursuit. In three studies, we examined whether perceiving potential partners as hard to get instigated sexual desire and whether perceived partner mate value explained this effect. In doing so, we focused on tactics that give the impression that potential partners are hard to get and may genuinely signal their mate value (being selective in choosing mates, efforts invested in their pursuit). In all studies, participants interacted with an opposite-sex confederate and rated their perceptions of the confederate. In Study 1, participants interacted with confederates whose profile indicated that they were either hard to get or easy to attract. In Study 2, participants exerted (or not) real efforts to attract the confederate. In Study 3, interactions unfolded spontaneously and were coded for efforts made to see the confederate again. Results indicated that the perception of whether a confederate was hard to get was associated with their mate value, which, in turn, predicted greater desire and efforts to see the confederate again, suggesting that being hard to get is an effective strategy that heightens perceptions of partners’ mate value.

When Does Responsiveness Pique Sexual Interest? Attachment and Sexual Desire in Initial Acquaintanceships

2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 946-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gurit E. Birnbaum ◽  
Harry T. Reis
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Sexual Interest ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Attachment Orientation ◽  
Relationship Partners ◽  
Perceived Partner Responsiveness ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Partner Responsiveness ◽  
Sex Partner

Three studies examined the contribution of attachment orientation and perceived partner responsiveness to sexual desire in initial acquaintanceships. In all studies, participants discussed a recent negative event with an unfamiliar, opposite-sex partner and then rated how responsive this partner had been during the interaction and their desire to have sex with him or her. Study 1 examined the association between perceived partner responsiveness and sexual desire in randomly paired strangers. Studies 2 and 3 experimentally manipulated partner responsiveness by standardized Instant Messages (Study 2) and a confederate’s responsive or unresponsive reactions during face-to-face interviews (Study 3). Results indicated that perceiving a partner as responsive was associated with heightened interest in sex with this partner, primarily among less avoidant people. These results are consistent with research showing that secure individuals see sex as a means of becoming close to relationship partners, whereas avoidant individuals tend to approach sex in distancing ways.

Fueled by desire: Sexual activation facilitates the enactment of relationship-initiating behaviors

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 3057-3074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gurit E. Birnbaum ◽  
Moran Mizrahi ◽  
Harry T. Reis
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Bonding Process ◽  
Causal Connection ◽  
Sexual System ◽  
Immediacy Behaviors ◽  
Relationship Initiation ◽  
Sexual Activation ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Attachment Bonding

Sexual desire has long been theorized to serve a relationship-initiation function by bringing partners together. Four studies addressed this possibility, examining whether activation of the sexual system encouraged the enactment of nonsexual behaviors that signal warmth and contact readiness. In Study 1, participants mimed together with an opposite-sex confederate to prerecorded music. Participant’s desire for the confederate was associated with coded immediacy behaviors toward the confederate (e.g., proximity seeking, synchronization). Study 2 extended these findings, showing that participants, who slow danced with a confederate perceived to be more desirable, were more synchronized with the confederate. Synchronization, in turn, was associated with greater interest in future interactions with the confederate. Studies 3 and 4 established a causal connection between sexual activation and engagement in relationship-promoting behaviors (provision of responsiveness and help, respectively). These findings suggest that intense desire, which attracts new partners to each other, elicits behaviors that support the attachment-bonding process.

scholarly journals The Role of Emotion Projection, Sexual Desire, and Self-Rated Attractiveness in the Sexual Overperception Bias

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iliana Samara ◽  
Tom S. Roth ◽  
Mariska E. Kret
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Sexual Interest ◽  
Detection Accuracy ◽  
Consistent Finding ◽  
Opposite Sex

AbstractA consistent finding in the literature is that men overperceive sexual interest in women (i.e., sexual overperception bias). Several potential mechanisms have been proposed for this bias, including projecting one’s own interest onto a given partner, sexual desire, and self-rated attractiveness. Here, we examined the influence of these factors in attraction detection accuracy during speed-dates. Sixty-seven participants (34 women) split in four groups went on a total of 10 speed-dates with all opposite-sex members of their group, resulting in 277 dates. The results showed that attraction detection accuracy was reliably predicted by projection of own interest in combination with participant sex. Specifically, men were more accurate than women in detecting attraction when they were not interested in their partner compared to when they were interested. These results are discussed in the wider context of arousal influencing detection of partner attraction.

Psychosexual Indicators of Sexual Violence in Children and Adolescents

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
E. Yakovleva
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Sexual Contact ◽  
Differential Diagnostics ◽  
List Type ◽  
Type Number ◽  
Male Adolescents ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Men Victims ◽  
Sexual Aversion

Purpose:Searchof psychosexual indicators of sexual violence.Object:Infant and juvenile victims of sexual offends (51 persons).Method:Sexological.Results:Psychosexual disorders associated with sexual violence were observed in 24%.For children of 3-7 years set is significant:Sexualization of behavior:– french kissing with friends;– interest to intimate parts of body;– a frequent situating of fingers in perineum;– inserting into genitals different subjects;– seizing for a breast or genitals.Description to strangers those sexual actions which with them were realized.For children of 7-12 years set is significant:Sexualization of behavior: – tempting behavior with persons of an opposite sex with make a suggestion of sexual contact;– imitation of sexual contact;– masturbation in public place.Unusual sexual knowledge for this age.For male adolescents set is significant:Psychosexual dissociation: platonic and erotic libido is heterosexual, sexual libido is homosexual.Disorders of identity: feminine identity and hyper-role behavior only with coevals of own sex.For female adolescents set is significant:Psychosexual dissociation:– love for the concrete coeval with lack of sexual desire to him;– presence of physiological sexual reactions on without personality object (heroes of books, television movies, etc.).Illegible erotic behavior and lack of sexual desire.Sexual aversion, restrictions of verbal contacts with young men, victims terminate to use of formal female attributes.Conclusion:Results may be used for differential diagnostics of sexual development's disorders of different genesis.

Pheromones - the smell of sexual desire?

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goldmeier ◽  
Green
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Desire

A New Technique to Measure the Level of Interest Using Heartbeat-Evoked Brain Potential

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
Kohei Fuseda ◽  
Jun’ichi Katayama
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Overt Response ◽  
Brain Potential ◽  
Probe Technique ◽  
Dynamic Stimuli ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
A New Technique ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Abstract. Interest is a positive emotion related to attention. The event-related brain potential (ERP) probe technique is a useful method to evaluate the level of interest in dynamic stimuli. However, even in the irrelevant probe technique, the probe is presented as a physical stimulus and steals the observer’s attentional resources, although no overt response is required. Therefore, the probe might become a problematic distractor, preventing deep immersion of participants. Heartbeat-evoked brain potential (HEP) is a brain activity, time-locked to a cardiac event. No probe is required to obtain HEP data. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether the HEP can be used to evaluate the level of interest. Twenty-four participants (12 males and 12 females) watched attractive and unattractive individuals of the opposite sex in interesting and uninteresting videos (7 min each), respectively. We performed two techniques each for both the interesting and the uninteresting videos: the ERP probe and the HEP techniques. In the former, somatosensory stimuli were presented as task-irrelevant probes while participants watched videos: frequent (80%) and infrequent (20%) stimuli were presented at each wrist in random order. In the latter, participants watched videos without the probe. The P2 amplitude in response to the somatosensory probe was smaller and the positive wave amplitudes of HEP were larger while watching the videos of attractive individuals than while watching the videos of unattractive ones. These results indicate that the HEP technique is a useful method to evaluate the level of interest without an external probe stimulus.

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