Gender differences in receptivity to sexual invitations: two naturalistic replication studies.

Abstract

In a seminal study, Clark and Hatfield (1989) found that men were more willing than women to accept casual sexual invitations, whereas no significant gender differences were observed in responses to propositions for non-committal social activities. The present research comprises two preregistered naturalistic replication studies (total N = 240). Study 1 serves as a direct replication, while Study 2 additionally tests whether differences in sociosexuality account for why men are more willing than women to accept casual sexual offers. In both studies, men more readily than women accepted a sexual invitation from a stranger of the opposite gender. In contrast to the original study, the gender difference was independent of the type of proposition. Individual differences in sociosexuality did not account for the observed gender differences. In summary, gender differences in the willingness to accept casual sexual invitations persist to this day, over 40 years after the initial Clark and Hatfield study.