Psychology Atlas

How The Mind Works
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Psychological Phenomena

Sexual Overperception Bias

Social Biases and Group Effects

Sexual overperception bias is a bias, studied under error management theory, in which a person wrongly concludes that someone else is sexually interested in them. Research associated with the bias, originally proposed by David Buss and Martie Haselton, has found it occurs more often in men than in women.

Facts
Core ClaimSourced to the subject's own account
Men tend to overperceive the sexual interest women show in them, inferring interest where none exists more often than missing real interest, while women tend to underperceive the commitment intent of men. 1
First Described YearSourced to the subject's own account
2000 1
Classification
Type of PhenomenonSourced to the subject's own account
Cognitive Phenomenon 1
Sources
1. Error Management Theory (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • lead section, third paragraph
    Error management theory provides a possible explanation for the discovery that men often tend to overperceive women's sexual interest and women tend to underperceive men's commitment intent.
  • Exceptions, The sister effect subsection
    Haselton and Buss (2000) found that sexual overperception bias would not occur when the target the men had to perceive sexual intent from was their sister.
  • lead section, phenomenon-kind classification
    Error management theory provides a possible explanation for the discovery that men often tend to overperceive women's sexual interest and women tend to underperceive men's commitment intent.
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.