Men, Women Lie about Sexual Behavior to Fit Stereotypes

Women may take pride in telling obscene jokes and men may say that they can write poetry, but when it comes to sex, both genders lie about their sexual behaviors to fit the gender stereotypes.

A new study has found that men are more likely to lie about the number of their sexual partners and women more likely to tone down their sexual life so that it better fits the society's rules for sexuality.  

"There is something unique about sexuality that led people to care more about matching the stereotypes for their gender," said Terri Fisher, author of the study and professor of psychology at The Ohio State University's Mansfield campus, according to a news release. "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 study included 293 college students between the ages of 18 and 25. The students were asked to fill a questionnaire that asked them about their engagement in about 124 behaviors. The behaviors in the list were tied with genders, such as wearing dirty clothes was considered to be associated with males, while lying about weight was considered a female behavior.

Some study participants were told that they were attached to a lie-detector device while they filled out the questionnaire. This was done to get a more honest response from the participants, even though the study didn't actually use any polygraph machine.

Researchers found that for any other behavior, apart from sexual ones, participants didn't feel the need to stick to stereotypes.

However, when talking about sexual behavior, participants agreed with statements that were based on gender stereotypes, such as women having fewer sexual partners.

The study was published in the journal Sex Roles.