Citation

Farris C, Viken RJ, Treat TA, McFall RM. Psychol. Sci. 2006; 17(10): 869-875.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Bloomington, 1101 E. 10th St., Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. cofaris@indiana.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Association for Psychological Science, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01796.x

PMID

17100787

Abstract

Luce's (1959, 1963) choice model was used to characterize individual differences in men's perception of women's affect as friendly, sexually interested, sad, or rejecting. Women's clothing styles were associated with differences in the model's parameters. Sensitivity to sadness, rejection, and friendliness declined when women were dressed provocatively, whereas sensitivity to sexual interest increased. Provocative clothing was also associated with an increased bias to assume that positive affect was sexual interest rather than friendliness. Men at risk for perpetrating sexual aggression were less sensitive to women's affect than low-risk men were. They were also more likely than low-risk men to associate provocative clothing with sexual interest, and conservative clothing with friendliness. Results indicate that heterosocial perception may help to predict sexually coercive behavior and may be an important target for intervention.

Language: en