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Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Gender differences in response to a cheating threat
In a study of 300 heterosexual men and women, half the participants were primed for cheating by imagining a flirtatious conversation with someone they found attractive. The other half just imagined a routine encounter.
Afterward, the study subjects were asked to complete fill-in-the-blank puzzles like LO_AL and THR__T.
The word fragments were a psychological test to reveal subconscious feelings about commitment.
No pattern emerged among the participants who imagined a routine encounter, but differences among men and women who had entertained the flirtatious fantasy. The men were more likely to complete the puzzles with the neutral words LOCAL and THROAT. But the women who had imagined flirting were far more likely to choose LOYAL and THREAT, suggesting that the exercise had touched off subconscious concerns about commitment.
The pronounced difference in responses led the researchers to think women might have developed a kind of early warning system to alert them to relationship threats.
Afterward, the study subjects were asked to complete fill-in-the-blank puzzles like LO_AL and THR__T.
The word fragments were a psychological test to reveal subconscious feelings about commitment.
No pattern emerged among the participants who imagined a routine encounter, but differences among men and women who had entertained the flirtatious fantasy. The men were more likely to complete the puzzles with the neutral words LOCAL and THROAT. But the women who had imagined flirting were far more likely to choose LOYAL and THREAT, suggesting that the exercise had touched off subconscious concerns about commitment.
The pronounced difference in responses led the researchers to think women might have developed a kind of early warning system to alert them to relationship threats.
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