Is Reading Sexual Intention Truly Functional? The Impact of Perceiving a Partner’s Sexual Intention on Courtship Initiation Behaviors

Abstract

The present research examined the presumed but not tested behavioral functions of sexual intent perception. Sex differences in the perception of a partner's sexual intention have been explained by its functions, from an evolutionary perspective, in males' and females' divergent mating goals. Our research directly explored the functional explanation in terms of behavioral impact by testing whether sex differences in sexual intent perception could lead to successful courtship behaviors. In Study 1, 411 college students reported their preferred courtship-initiating behaviors in hypothetical situations in which their own sexual motivation and their perceptions of a potential partner's sexual intention varied. The results showed that females' courtship behaviors were influenced only by their own sexual motivation whereas males' behaviors were influenced by both their own sexual motivation and their perception of a potential partner's sexual intent. Study 2 examined whether a participant's perception of a potential partner's sexual intention resulted in the participant selecting the specific courtship strategies that could eventually lead to successful mating opportunities. We compared the behavioral strategies preferred by courtship initiators (Study 1) to the reactions of courtship targets toward these same strategies (collected from 103 college students in Study 2) when the target's sexual intention and the initiator's perception of it matched. The results showed that only one condition-male initiators whose perception of the target's sexual intent corresponded with the target's actual intent-utilized effective courtship behaviors. The findings were consistent with the functional prediction and their theoretical implications for the evolutionary perspective were discussed.