Gender Differences in the Perception of Sexuality: Methodological Considerations

The present study of gender differences in the perception of sexuality was designed to systematically vary verbal and nonverbal videotaped cues of a conversation between a male-female dyad. Comparisons were made between 78 males and 99 females who were primarily Caucasian and enrolled in general psychology courses. Participants were able to either see and hear, to only see, or to only hear the same interaction. In the see and hear condition, there were no gender differences in the perception of sexuality; in the see only condition, females rated the actress lower in sexuality; and in the hear only condition, males rated the actress higher in sexuality. Results indicate that methodological differences may account for contradictory findings in prior studies.