She thinks friends, he thinks sex

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-01/nuos-stf012915.php

Public Release: 29-Jan-2015
Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Imagine the following scenario: a woman and a man are having a conversation. She is interested in the conversation, and is friendly, smiling and warm. He interprets her behavior as sexual interest.

Or maybe: a man is sexually attracted to a woman he has just met, and signals this in various ways. She thinks that he is just being friendly.

Recognize these situations? If so, you're not alone.

We misunderstand each other

In a recent study at the Department of Psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), women reported that men often misinterpret their signals of friendliness as sexual interest. Conversely, the men in the study reported that women often misinterpret their signals of sexual interest as friendliness.

"The results are no surprise, seen from an evolutionary perspective," researcher Mons Bendixen explains. "The fascinating thing is that our results are identical to a study done in the USA, even though Norway is one of the most gender-equal, sexually liberal countries in the world."

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