Perceptions of Sexual Experience and Preferences for Dating and Marriage‪.‬

Abstract: This study investigated the variables that influence perceptions of someone's sexual experience and their desirability as a dating and marriage partner. Participants were given information about an opposite sex target in which three dimensions of behaviour (number of different sexual activities, number of sexual partners, and number of times a person engaged in sexual activity) were experimentally manipulated. Participants were then asked to rate the sexual experience and desirability of the target as a date and marriage partner. The results indicated that the number of sexual activities and number of sexual partners influenced the ratings of the target's sexual experience as well as the desirability as a date and marriage partner. As predicted, the targets who had engaged in a high number of sexual activities with a high number of sexual partners were perceived as having a greater degree of sexual experience and were rated less desirable as a marriage partner by both men and women. Contrary to predictions, this was also true for ratings of the target's desirability as a date. The results were discussed in terms of the meaning of sexual experience and evolutionary theory. Key words: sexual experience, dating desirability, marriage desirability.