The Allure of Sexual Vulnerability – It’s Your Move
Jenny Galvao
According to research led by Cari Goetz, University of Texas at Austin, men are more sexually attracted to women who display cues to their sexual exploitability over all other cues. In other words, men are sexually attracted to women who show desire for casual sex.
According to the researchers they “found a significant interaction between inclination towards casual sex and openness such that women who were low on openness and less inclined toward casual sex were less likely to display cues to exploitability.”
In fact, two main traits proved to be the biggest determinate of sexual attractiveness: openness and extraversion.
In this experiment, female participants created a 1-minute hypothetical video which was ostensibly to be posted to their university online dating profile.
Instead, however, a female affiliate to the study rated the women on a 7-point scale on seven main “exploitability” characteristics including: Attention-seeking, Intelligence, Flirtatiousness, Promiscuity, Recklessness, Shyness, and Immaturity. The values were then averaged in order to come up with an overall value. Two factors however, Intelligence and Shyness were reverse-scored as they are inversely related to sexual exploitability.
The researchers note that these main factors have been found to be highly correlated to perceived sexual exploitability in past studies. A few other factors including Intoxicated, Partying, and Promiscuous Friends which were used in previous studies were omitted as they were not likely to be found in the videos.
Results showed that, as expected, women in favour of casual sex were higher in the traits of openness and extraversion, as opposed to the women who were less inclined to engage in casual sex. Also, these women displayed their openness and extroversion in the dating videos; they didn’t hide it.
The results provide us with two important take-away messages. First, if you’re female and want to attract male attention, display cues of sexual exploitability overall. Second, if you’re male, and want to score with willing partners, seek the same.
So men, pay attention to the specific signals a woman is giving you as learning about woman’s overall personality can provide you with some insight towards her sexual expectations.
Speaking from a woman’s perspective, it’s fair to say that at times we may seem complicated. That’s because we rarely speak outright about what we’re looking for—especially in regards to sexual encounters and desires, however, if you look carefully, the astute will see all the cues they really need to properly read women. While we rarely say it, we do often show it, you just need to be able to read women’s nonverbal cues.
The researchers are clear: “These findings demonstrate that only a brief interaction is necessary for a woman to convey, and an observer to assess, cues to exploitability. Utilizing exploitability cues to signal accessibility may be a particularly effective mate attraction strategy because it is so readily communicated.”
So ladies, don’t be afraid to open up to a potential dating partner, it’s important that you’re both aware of sexual goals before things get too serious. As found here, it is your personality traits that is your best sexual cue. Sexual exploitability, as cues, is risky, so in order to be read correctly, you need to be honest about how you present yourself to men.
Research like this shows us that with a few simple signals we can often control the outcome of various situations. In other words, women, if you’re not interested, then turn down the volume on extraversion and openness and dial up your perceived intelligence and shyness.
We often think that the thoughts and behaviour of others is out of our direct control, but, in fact, like in any match, our counterpart is simply responding appropriately to our moves.
About the Author: Jenny Galvao is an undergraduate student at the University of Guelph studying psychology.
Resources
Goetz, Cari D.; Judith A. Easton; Cindy M. Meston. The Allure of Vulnerability: Advertising Cues to Exploitability as a Signal of Sexual Accessibility. Personality and Individual Differences. 2019. 62: 121-125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.02.019