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.

Seeing what you want to see: Sexual activation makes potential partners seem more appealing and romantically interested

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 3051-3069
Author(s):  
Gurit E. Birnbaum ◽  
Mor Iluz ◽  
Einat Plotkin ◽  
Lihi Tibi ◽  
Ronit Hematian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual System ◽  
Relationship Initiation ◽  
Sexual Activation ◽  
Potential Partner ◽  
Romantic Interest ◽  
The Way

Recent studies have indicated that activation of the sexual system fosters relationship initiation. In three studies, we expand on this work to investigate whether sexual activation encourages initiating relationship with prospective partners by biasing the way they are perceived. In all studies, participants encountered a potential partner and rated this partner’s attractiveness and romantic interest following sexual activation. Participants’ interest in the partner was self-reported or evaluated by raters. Study 1 revealed that sexual activation led participants to perceive potential partners as more attractive and interested in oneself. Study 2 added to these findings, providing a test of sexual priming rather than more general closeness priming. Mediational analyses in Study 3 indicated that heightened romantic interest mediated the link between sexual activation and perceiving potential partners as more interested in oneself. These findings suggest that sexual activation facilitates relationship initiation by motivating projection of one’s desires onto prospective partners.

Sex Unleashes Your Tongue: Sexual Priming Motivates Self-Disclosure to a New Acquaintance and Interest in Future Interactions

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 706-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gurit E. Birnbaum ◽  
Moran Mizrahi ◽  
Ayelet Kaplan ◽  
Danielle Kadosh ◽  
Dana Kariv ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual System ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Sexual Stimuli ◽  
Relationship Initiation ◽  
Personal Event ◽  
Instant Messenger ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
The Stranger

Research has demonstrated the contribution of sexual activity to the quality of ongoing relationships. Nevertheless, less attention has been given to how activation of the sexual system affects relationship-initiation processes. Three studies used complementary methodologies to examine the effect of sexual priming on self-disclosure, a relationship-promoting behavior. In Study 1, participants were subliminally exposed to sexual stimuli (vs. neutral stimuli), and then disclosed over Instant Messenger a personal event to an opposite-sex stranger. Results showed that merely thinking about sex, even without being aware of it, encouraged self-disclosure. Study 2 replicated these findings in relatively naturalistic conditions (live face-to-face interactions following supraliminal video priming). Study 3 extended these findings, indicating that sexual priming facilitated self-disclosure, which, in turn, increased interest in future interactions with the stranger. Together, these findings suggest that activation of the sexual system encourages the use of strategies that allow people to become closer to potential partners.

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.

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.

Initiation of non-heterosexual relationships

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslava Varella Valentova ◽  
Marco Antonio Correa Varella
Keyword(s):  
General Pattern ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Heterosexual Relationships ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Relationship Initiation ◽  
Current State ◽  
Heterosexual Relationship ◽  
Sexual Orientations ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Mating Psychology

Human sexual orientation is an intriguing phenomenon which is still poorly understood and has important evolutionary implications. Evolutionary based studies mostly focus on heterosexual individuals and relationships, probably because non-heterosexuality concerns a minority of the population and decreases individual direct reproductive success. To better understand human nature, it is important to analyse whether the mating psychology of minorities exhibit specific evolved sexual/reproductive strategies. Here we review studies on partner preferences, mate choice, and flirting in non-heterosexual populations, to identify which patterns are similar to or different from heterosexuals. The general pattern supports the notion that sex differences are larger than within sex variation among people of different sexual orientations. However, although some mating strategies among non-heterosexuals resemble heterosexuals of the same sex, others resemble heterosexuals of the opposite sex, and yet in others, the pattern is different than among either heterosexual men or women. We point to limitations of the current state of this research, and we suggest possible future directions in the study of non-heterosexual relationship initiation.

Initiation of non-heterosexual relationships

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslava Varella Valentova ◽  
Marco Antonio Correa Varella
Keyword(s):  
General Pattern ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Heterosexual Relationships ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Relationship Initiation ◽  
Current State ◽  
Heterosexual Relationship ◽  
Sexual Orientations ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Mating Psychology

Human sexual orientation is an intriguing phenomenon which is still poorly understood and has important evolutionary implications. Evolutionary based studies mostly focus on heterosexual individuals and relationships, probably because non-heterosexuality concerns a minority of the population and decreases individual direct reproductive success. To better understand human nature, it is important to analyse whether the mating psychology of minorities exhibit specific evolved sexual/reproductive strategies. Here we review studies on partner preferences, mate choice, and flirting in non-heterosexual populations, to identify which patterns are similar to or different from heterosexuals. The general pattern supports the notion that sex differences are larger than within sex variation among people of different sexual orientations. However, although some mating strategies among non-heterosexuals resemble heterosexuals of the same sex, others resemble heterosexuals of the opposite sex, and yet in others, the pattern is different than among either heterosexual men or women. We point to limitations of the current state of this research, and we suggest possible future directions in the study of non-heterosexual relationship initiation.

Pheromones - the smell of sexual desire?

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