Individual and Gender Differences in Sexual Self-Perceptions

Abstract

A study was conducted to explore the perceptions that individuals have about the sexual component of their self-concept while paying particular attention to gender differences. A list of sexual traits was created that described various components of an individual's sexuality. As predicted, we found that males rate themselves higher on explicitly sexual dimensions (e.g., sexually responsive, experienced) and females perceive themselves to be more romantic and sexually attractive. We also examined how some individual difference variables (masculinity-femininity, erotopho-bia-erotophilia, and sexual experience) may be associated with people's perceptions of their sexuality. For males, masculinity was associated with higher self-ratings on sexual traits related to sexual experience and responsiveness, whereas for females, femininity was associated with higher self-ratings of romanticism and attractiveness. Also, we found that erotophiles and sexually experienced individuals perceive themselves as more sexual than erotophobes and less experienced individuals. The results were discussed in terms of traditional theories about the self-concept and suggestions for further investigations of these issues were noted.