Clark & Hatfield (1989)
Uses: Evolution
Aim: To investigate whether the stereotype of men are more eager for sex to be true.
Method: True experiment
Procedure:
Procedure. The confederates stood on one of five college quadrangles, and approached members of the opposite sex, who were total strangers. Only one requestor made a request in each area at any one time. The requestors were instructed to approach only subject's who were attractive enough that they would be willing to actually sleep with them, if given the opportunity.
On a scale of I to 9 (1 = "Very unattractive"; 9 '::. "Very attractive"), female confederates rated the male subjects M = 7 .30. Male confederates
rated female subjects M = 7.70. (These ratings were not significantly different; t < 1.00.) The confederates' ratings make it clear,
that they only selected "moderately" to "very attractive" male and female subjects.
Asked one of 3 requests after saying "I have been noticing you around campus. I find you to be, very attractive.”
"Would you go out with me tonight?"
"Would you come over to my apartment tonight?"
"Would you go to bed with me tonight?”
The requests were made during weekdays to decrease the probability of subjects refusing because they had dates or other social obligations. Subjects were not approached between class periods or during rainy weather.
Subjects were debriefed and thanked for their participation.
Results:
In 1978, men were more likely to say yes to each of the invitations than women, (65% to 21%). The percentage of dates are similar but the percentage of apartment and sex is significantly lower for male requestors. Study 2 in 1982 have almost the exact same data as before. Men were more likely to agree to requests of men with 63% to 17%.
Conclusion:
Men are more eager for sexual activity while women are more eager for love and commitment.
Evaluation:
Random sample
Subjective
Clark, R. D., Hatfield, E. (1989) Gender differences in receptivity to sexual offers. Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 2, 39–55.