Alcohol's effects on sexual perception

Objective: This study examines hypotheses about alcohol's effects on sexual judgments based on both alcohol and misperception theories. It was hypothe sized that gender, alcohol consumption and alcohol expectancy set would inf luence perceptions of sexuality. Method: Participants were unacquainted wom en and men (88 dyads) who interacted for 15 minutes within the context of t he balanced placebo design. After the conversation ended, participants answ ered questions about their behavior and their partners' behavior. Conversat ions were videotaped and coded by trained raters. Results: Men perceived th eir female partner and themselves as behaving more sexually than women perc eived their male partner and themselves. When alcohol was consumed, both wo men and men were perceived as behaving more sexually and in a more disinhib ited manner than when alcohol was not consumed. Ratings made by members of white and black dyads were largely com-parable. Trained observers coded par ticipants' use of active attention and dating availability cues. Both types of cues interacted with alcohol consumption such that intoxicated particip ants exaggerated the meaning of strong (dating availability) cues and ignor ed the meaning of ambiguous (active attention) cues when making sexual judg ments. Conclusions: Supporting past research on gender differences in perce ptions of sexuality, men were more sexually attracted to their opposite-sex partner than women were. Both women's and men's sexual judgments were infl uenced by alcohol consumption but not by alcohol expectancy set. Intoxicate d participants' responses to their partners' behavioral cues supported cogn itive impairment models of alcohol's effects. The implications of these fin dings for theories about alcohol's effects on sexuality and for prevention programming are discussed.