The Sexual Intent Perceptions Questionnaire (SIP-Q) is a 25-item instrument designed to measure interpretations of women’s sexual willingness communicated via various behaviors. The instrument demonstrates high internal consistency using a 7-point Likert-type scale. Applications of the SIP-Q include assessing observers’ tendency to overperceive women’s sexual interest, testing the effects of drive states such as sexual arousal and feelings of power on ratings of women’s sexual interest, and exploring how variables such as physical attractiveness and actor–observer positionality may be associated with sexual perceptions. Studies employing the SIP-Q revealed that sexual arousal tends to increase ratings of sexual willingness, particularly among single men, and that women’s physical attractiveness can enhance these perceptions, especially when the man himself is the recipient of the woman’s behavior. The instrument is beneficial for examining sources of sexual miscommunication.
- sexual intent
- sexual miscommunication
- sexual willingness
- sexual overperception
- sexual arousal
The Sexual Intent Perceptions Questionnaire (SIP-Q) is a 25-item quantitative self-report research instrument used to investigate how social contextual factors can influence the interpretation of women’s ambiguous behaviors that may or may not indicate sexual willingness. Inspired by the problem of sexual miscommunication that may lead to unwanted or illicit sexual advances [1[1][2],2], the instrument facilitates the empirical study of sexual overperception [3[3][4],4], motivated reasoning [5[5][6],6], and actor–observer differences [7] in sexual judgment. Extant scholarship utilizing the SIP-Q demonstrates its high internal consistency and its versatility for examining how relevant factors such as sexual arousal [8,9][8][9], social power [10], and physical attractiveness [11,12,13][11][12][13] can influence perceptions of sexual willingness. Findings derived from this research have applications for understanding the sources of misinterpretations of sexual willingness, litigating sexual misconduct allegations, and informing interventions to reduce incidences of sexual assault.
References
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- Jones, E.E.; Nisbett, R.E. The Actor and the Observer: Divergent Perceptions of the Causes of Behavior. In Attribution: Perceiving the Causes of Behavior; Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.: Mahwah, NJ, USA, 1987; pp. 79–94.
- Livingston, T.N.; Rerick, P.O.; Davis, D. Relationships Between Sexual Arousal, Relationship Status, and Men’s Ratings of Women’s Sexual Willingness: Implications for Research and Practice. Violence Gend. 2022, 9, 127–134.
- Rerick, P.O.; Livingston, T.N.; Davis, D. Does the Horny Man Think Women Want Him Too? Effects of Male Sexual Arousal on Perceptions of Female Sexual Willingness. J. Soc. Psychol. 2020, 160, 520–533.
- Livingston, T.N.; Davis, D. Power Affects Perceptions of Sexual Willingness: Implications for Litigating Sexual Assault Allegations. Violence Gend. 2020, 7, 116–120.
- Livingston, T.N.; Rerick, P.O. Men’s Physical Attractiveness Predicts Women’s Ratings of Sexual Intent through Sexual Arousal: Implications for Sexual (Mis)Communication. Sexes 2023, 4, 327–340.
- Rerick, P.O.; Livingston, T.N. Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder, and So Is Intent: Men’s Interpretations of the Sexual Intent of Attractive Versus Unattractive Women. Violence Gend. 2022, 9, 193–200.
- Rerick, P.O.; Livingston, T.N.; Singer, J. The Relationship Between Men’s Self-Perceived Attractiveness and Ratings of Women’s Sexual Intent. Behav. Sci. 2025, 15, 1101.