They Are Just Not That Into You: Does Sexual Arousal Impair Perception of Rejection Cues?

Abstract

Sexual arousal elicits approach-oriented motivation. In early romantic encounters, however, this desire to pursue a connection must be balanced against the risk of rejection. Across four studies, we investigated whether sexual priming affects risk regulation, causing people to perceive potential partners as romantically interested despite ambiguous cues. Unpartnered participants watched either sexual or nonsexual videos before engaging in an online chat with a confederate who conveyed mixed signals across different interaction phases. Participants rated the confederate’s desirability as a partner and perceived interest. Independent raters also coded participants’ written impressions for perceived romantic interest. Results showed that sexual priming increased participants’ perceptions of the confederate’s desirability, which, in turn, predicted both self-reported and coded perceptions of the confederate’s interest. These findings suggest that sexual arousal creates “tunnel vision,” leading people to interpret ambiguity in ways that prioritize approach goals over self-protective concerns, with implications for misunderstandings in early romantic encounters.