Although many researchers have documented men's tendency to misperceive women's friendliness as a sign of sexual interest, few have examined individual differences in men's attitudes and past experiences that might predict their likelihood of making these types of misjudgments. We applied an expanded version of Malamuth, Sockloskie, Koss, and Tanaka's (1991) Confluence model to predict frequency of misperception of women's sexual intent with a sample of 356 male college students. Using structural equation modeling, hostile masculinity, impersonal sex, and drinking in dating and sexual situations predicted men's frequency of misperception. Furthermore, the more risk factors men possessed, the more times they misperceived women's sexual intentions. Suggestions are made for theory development and future research incorporating situational as well as personality measures in longitudinal studies.
Abbey, A. (1982). Sex differences in attributions for friendly behavior: Do males misperceive females' friendliness?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 830-838.
2.
Abbey, A. (1987). Misperception of friendly behavior as sexual interest: A survey of naturally occurring incidents. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11, 173-194.
3.
Abbey, A., & Harnish, R.J. (1995). Perception of sexual intent: The role of gender, alcohol consumption, and rape supportive attitudes. Sex Roles , 32, 297-313.
4.
Abbey, A., & McAuslan, P. (2004). A longitudinal examination of male college students' perpetration of sexual assault. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 747-756.
5.
Abbey, A., McAuslan, P., & Ross, L.T. (1998). Sexual assault perpetration by college men: The role of alcohol, misperception of sexual intent, and sexual beliefs and experiences . Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 17, 167-195.
6.
Abbey, A., McAuslan, P., Zawacki, T., Clinton, A.M., & Buck, P.O. (2001). Attitudinal, experiential, and situational predictors of sexual assault perpetration. Journal of Interpersonal Violence , 16, 784-807.
7.
Abbey, A., & Melby, C. (1986). The effects of nonverbal cues on gender differences in perceptions of sexual intent. Sex Roles, 15, 283-298.
8.
Abbey, A., Parkhill, M.R., BeShears, R., Clinton-Sherrod, A.M., & Zawacki, T. (2006). Cross-sectional predictors of sexual assault perpetration in a community sample of single men. Aggressive Behavior, 32, 54-67.
9.
Abbey, A., Zawacki, T., & Buck, P.O. (2005). The effects of past sexual assault perpetration and alcohol consumption on men's reactions to women's mixed signals. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24, 129-155.
10.
Abbey, A., Zawacki, T., & McAuslan, P. (2000). Alcohol's effects on sexual perception. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 61, 688-697.
11.
Ageton, S.S. (1983). Sexual assault among adolescents. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
12.
Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (1997). External validity of “trivial” experiments: The case of laboratory aggression. Review of GeneralPsychology , 1, 19-41.
13.
Anderson, P.A. (1985). Nonverbal immediacy in interpersonal communication . In A. W. Siegman & S. Feldstein (Eds.), Multichannel integrations of nonverbal behavior (pp. 1-36). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
14.
Andrews, F.M. (1984). Construct validity and error components of survey measures: A structural modeling approach. Public Opinion Quarterly , 48, 409-442.
15.
Baumeister, R.F., Catanese, K.R., & Wallace, H.M. (2002). Conquest by force: A narcissistic reactance theory of rape and sexual coercion. Review of GeneralPsychology , 6, 92-135.
16.
Bentler, P.M. (1990). Comparative fit indices in structural models. Psychological Bulletin,107, 238-246.
17.
Bentler, P.M., & Bonett, D.G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness-of-fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin,88, 588-606.
18.
Bollen, K.A. (1989). Structural equations with latent variables. New York: Wiley.
19.
Bondurant, B., & Donat, P.L.N. (1999). Perceptions of women's sexual interest and acquaintance rape: The role of sexual overperception and affective attitudes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 23, 691-705.
20.
Botswick, T.D., & Delucia, J.L. (1992). Effects of gender and specific dating behaviors on perceptions of sex willingness and date rape. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 11, 14-25.
21.
Browne, M.W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen and J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136-162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
22.
Burt, M.R. (1980). Cultural myths and supports for rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 217-230.
23.
Calhoun, K.S., Bernat, J.A., Clum, G.A., & Frame, C.L. (1997). Sexual coercion and attraction to sexual aggression in a community sample of young men. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 12, 392-406.
24.
Chou, C.-P., & Bentler, P.M. (1995). Estimates and tests in structural equation modeling . In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.), Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications (pp. 37-55). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
25.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
26.
Dean, K.E., & Malamuth, N.M. (1997). Characteristics of men who aggress sexually and of men who imagine aggressing: Risk and moderating variables. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 449-455.
27.
DeSouza, E.R., Pierce, T., Zanelli, J.C., & Hutz, C. (1992). Perceived sexual intent in the U.S. and Brazil as a function of nature of encounter, subjects' nationality, and gender. Journal of Sex Research, 29, 251-260.
28.
Edmondson, C.B., & Conger, J.C. (1995). The impact of mode of presentation on gender differences in social perception. Sex Roles, 32, 169-183.
29.
Fichten, C.S., Tagalakis, V., Judd, D., Wright, J., & Amsel, R. (1992). Verbal and nonverbal communication cues in daily conversations and dating. Journal of Social Psychology, 132, 751-769.
30.
Finn, P.R., Justus, A., Mazas, C., & Steinmetz, J.E. (1999). Working memory, executive processes and the effects of alcohol on go/no-go learning: Testing a model of behavioral regulation and impulsivity. Psychopharmacology , 146, 465-472.
31.
Fisher, T.D., & Walters, A.S. (2003). Variables in addition to gender that help explain differences in perceived sexual interest. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 4, 154-162.
32.
George, W.H., Gournic, S.J., & McAfee, M.P. (1988). Perceptions of post drinking female sexuality . Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 18, 1295-1317.
33.
George, W.H., Lehman, G.L., Cue, K.L., Martinez, L.J., Lopez, P.A., & Norris, J. (1997). Postdrinking sexual inferences: Evidence for linear rather than curvilinear dosage effects. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27, 629-648.
34.
George, W.H., & Norris, J. (1991). Alcohol, disinhibition, sexual arousal, and deviant sexual behavior. Alcohol Health and Research World, 15, 133-138.
35.
Giancola, P.R. (2000). Executive functioning: A conceptual framework for alcohol-related aggression. Experimental and ClinicalPsychopharmacology, 8, 576-597.
36.
Hall, G.C.N., Teten, A.L., DeGarmo, D.S., Sue, S., & Stephens, K.A. (2005). Ethnicity, culture, and sexual aggression: Risk and protective factors. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 830-840.
37.
Haselton, M.G. (2003). The sexual overperception bias: Evidence of a systematic bias in men from a survey of naturally occurring events. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 34-47.
38.
Haselton, M.G., & Buss, D.M. (2000). Error management theory: A new perspective on biases in cross-sex mind reading. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 81-91.
39.
Hayduk, L.A. (1989). Structural equation modeling with LISREL. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
40.
Henningsen, D.D. (2004). Flirting with meaning: An examination of miscommunication in flirting interactions. Sex Roles, 50, 481-489.
41.
Hilton, M.E., & Clark, W.B. (1987). Changes in American drinking patterns and problems, 1967-1984. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 48, 515-522.
Hurtz, G.M., & Donovan, J.J. (2000). Personality and job performance: The Big Five revisited. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 869-879.
44.
James, L.R. (1973). Criterion models and construct validity for criteria . Psychological Bulletin,80, 75-83.
45.
Jessor, R., & Jessor, S.L. (1973). A social psychology of marijuana use: Longitudinal studies of high school and college youth. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 26, 1-15.
46.
Johnson, C.B., Stockdale, M.S., & Saal, F.E. (1991). Persistence of men's misperceptions of friendly cues across a variety of interpersonal encounters. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 15, 463-475.
47.
Johnson, G.M., & Knight, R.A. (2000). Developmental antecedents of sexual coercion in juvenile sexual offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 12, 165-178.
Kanin, E.J. (1985). Date rapists: Differential sexual socialization and relative deprivation. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 14, 219-231.
50.
Koeppel, L.B., Montagne-Miller, Y., O'Hair, D., & Cody, M.J. (1993). Friendly? Flirting? Wrong? In P. J. Kalbleisch (Ed.), Interpersonal communication: Evolving interpersonal relationships (pp. 13-32). Hillsdale, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum.
51.
Koss, M.P., & Dinero, T.E. (1988). Predictors of sexual aggression among a national sample of male college students. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 528, 133-147.
52.
Koss, M.P., & Oros, C.J. (1982). Sexual experiences survey: A research instrument investigating sexual aggression and victimization. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 455-457.
53.
Koukounas, E., & Letch, N.M. (2001). Psychological correlates of perception of sexual intent in women. Journal of Social Psychology, 141, 443-456.
54.
Kowalski, R.M. (1993). Inferring sexual interest from behavioral cues: Effects of gender and sexually relevant attitudes. Sex Roles , 29, 13-36.
55.
Lim, S., & Howard, R. (1998). Antecedents of sexual and non-sexual aggression in young Singaporean men. Personality and Individual Differences , 25, 1163-1182.
56.
Loehlin, J.C. (1998). Latent variable models: An introduction to factor, path, and structural analysis. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
57.
MacCallum, R.C., & Austin, J.T. (2000). Applications of structural equation modeling in psychological research. Annual Review ofPsychology, 51, 201-226.
58.
Malamuth, N.M. (1986). Predictors of naturalistic sexual aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 953-962.
59.
Malamuth, N.M., Addison, T., & Koss, M. (2000). Pornography and sexual aggression: Are there reliable effects and can we understand them?Annual Review of Sex Research , 11, 26-91.
60.
Malamuth, N.M., & Brown, L.M. (1994). Sexually aggressive men's perceptions of women's communications: Testing three explanations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 353-369.
61.
Malamuth, N.M., Linz, D., Heavey, C.L., Barnes, G., & Acker, M. (1995). Using the Confluence model of sexual aggression to predict men's conflict with women: A ten-year follow-up study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 353-369.
62.
Malamuth, N.M., Sockloskie, R.J., Koss, M.P., & Tanaka, J.S. (1991). Characteristics of aggressors against women: Testing a model using a national sample of college students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 670-681.
63.
Maner, J.K., Kenrick, D.T., Becker, D.V., Robertson, T.E., Hofer, B., Neuberg, S.L., et al. (2005). Functional projection: How fundamental social motives can bias interpersonal perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 63-78.
64.
Martín, A.F., Vergeles, M.R., Acevedo, V.D., Sánchez, A.D. & Visa, S.L. (2005). The involvement in sexual coercive behaviors of Spanish college men: Prevalence and risk factors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 872-891.
65.
Mosher, C.E., & Danoff-Burg, S. (2005). Agentic and communal personality traits: Relations to attitudes toward sex and sexual experiences. Sex Roles, 52, 121-129.
66.
Muehlenhard, C.L. (1988). Misinterpreted dating behaviors and the risk of date rape. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 6, 20-37.
67.
Murnen, S.K., Wright, C., & Kaluzny, G. (2002). If “boys will be boys,” then girls will be victims? A meta-analytic review of the research that relates masculine ideology to sexual aggression. Sex Roles, 46, 359-375.
68.
Nelson, P.A. (1979). Personality, sexual function, and sexual behavior: An experiment in methodology. (Doctoral Dissertation, University of Florida, 1979). Dissertation Abstracts International, 39, 6134.
69.
Nickerson, R.S. (1999). How we know—and sometimes misjudge— what others know: Imputing one's own knowledge to others. Psychological Bulletin,125, 737-759.
70.
Ozer, D.J. (1999). Four principles for personality assessment. In L. A. Pervin, & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 671-686). New York: Guilford.
71.
Parks, K.A., & Scheidt, D.M. (2000). Male bar drinkers' perspective on female bar drinkers . Sex Roles, 43, 927-941.
72.
Ross, M., & Sicoly, F. (1979). Egocentric biases in availability and attribution . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 322-336.
73.
Saal, F.E., Johnson, C.B., & Weber, N. (1989). Friendly or sexy? It may depend on whom you ask . Psychology of Women Quarterly, 13, 263-276.
74.
Schachner, D.A., & Shaver, P.R. (2004). Attachment dimensions and sexual motives. Personal Relationships, 11, 179-195.
75.
Senn, C.Y., Desmarais, S., Verberg, N., & Wood, E. (2000). Predicting coercive sexual behavior across the lifespan in a random sample of Canadian men. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 17, 95-113.
76.
Shotland, R.L., & Craig, J.M. (1988). Can men and women differentiate between friendly and sexually interested behavior?Social Psychology Quarterly , 51, 66-73.
77.
Simpson, J.A., & Gangestad, S.W. (1991). Individual differences in sociosexuality: Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 870-883.
78.
Snyder, M., & Stukas, A.A., Jr. (1999). Interpersonal processes: The interplay of cognitive, motivational, and behavioral activities in social interaction . Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 273-303.
79.
Stockdale, M.S. (1993). The role of sexual misperceptions of women's friendliness in an emerging theory of sexual harassment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 42, 84-101.
80.
Tremblay, R., Pagani-Kurtz, L., Mâsse, L., Vitaro, F., & Pihl, R.O. (1995). A bimodal prevention intervention for disruptive kindergarten boys: Its impact through mid-adolescence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 634, 560-568.
81.
Vrij, A., & Kirby, E. (2002). Sex differences in interpreting male-female dyad interactions: Males' predominance in perceiving sexual intent. International Review of Victimology, 9, 289-297.
82.
Wheeler, J.G., George, W.H., & Dahl, B.J. (2002). Sexually aggressive college males: Empathy as a moderator in the “Confluence Model” of sexual aggression. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 759-775.
83.
Wilcox, R.R. (2001). Fundamentals of modern statistical methods: Substantially improving power and accuracy. New York: Springer-Verlag.
84.
Yost, M.R., & Zurbriggen, E.L. (2006). Gender differences in the enactment of sociosexuality: An examination of implicit social motives, sexual fantasies, coerceive sexual attitudes, and aggressive sexual behavior. Journal of Sex Research, 43, 163-173.
85.
Zawacki, T., Abbey, A., Buck, P.O., McAuslan, P., & Clinton-Sherrod, A.M. (2003). Perpetrators of alcohol-involved sexual assaults: How do they differ from other sexual assault perpetrators and nonperpetrators?Aggressive Behavior, 29, 366-380.
