Sexual Behavior As Predicted By a Social Exchange Model: Three Tests of Sexual Economics

Three studies tested Sexual Economics theory, which states that men give resources to women in order to gain sexual access. Study 1 showed that women who read a sexually-charged dating scene, relative to a friendship scene, became more attuned to exchange-related information. Study 2 found that a woman who accepted dinners from a man but later refrained from sex was expected to feel guiltier than if she had paid for herself. In study 3, women who received a Valentine's gift but did not have sex felt guiltier than women who did not get a gift nor have sex.