Men and women lie about sex to fit stereotypes

Whilst people rarely lie about other gender-related behaviours, a recent study in the journal Sex Roles has suggested that men and women lie about their sexual behaviour to better fit into the cultural norm.

Whilst happy to admit to “male-type” and “female-type” activities regardless of gender, when it comes to sexual activities people prefer to be seen as either “real men” with a lot of sexual experience or less sexual experience for women.

Terri Fisher, the author of the study which spoke to 293 college students aged 18 to 25, said:
“There is something unique about sexuality that led people to care more about matching the stereotypes for their gender. Sexuality seemed to be the one area where people felt some concern if they didn’t meet the stereotypes of a typical man or a typical woman.”

The participants filled out the questionnaire on different activities, and some were connected to what they thought was a working lie detector (it actually did not work). This alteration only made the participants’ answers about sexual behaviour change. Fisher carried the same experiment in 2003 with similar results, bar one aspect. When hooked up to a lie detector the women of the more recent study admitted to more sexual partners than the men, whilst in 2003 women were more even to the male figures.

“Society has changed, even in the past 10 years, and a variety of researchers have found that differences between men and women in some areas of sexual behaviour have essentially disappeared,” Fisher said.

If you or your sexual partners have ever lied about your sexual history for whatever reason, you may be putting yourself and others at risk of contracting an STI. There should be honesty between partners, and if you both are unsure of the consequences of your sexual past then the best thing to do is get tested for STIs. Better2Know tests can be booked online or through calling our friendly booking team, so do not delay and book your test now.