Sex and Sexual Orientation Differences in Flirting Behaviors Emma Fortunato & Dr. Sarah L. Strout Dominican College

Introduction Flirting an important aspect of mating strategies (e.g. Moore, 1985; Grammar, 1990; Simpson, Gangestad, & Biek, 1993; Jesser, 1978) Focus of these studies on heterosexual flirting behaviors Very few examined homosexual flirting behavior (e.g. Rose & Zand, 2002)

Current Study Past research has not directly compared men and women on flirting behavior or heterosexual and homosexual differences Current study examines sex and sexual orientation differences on flirting behaviors

Hypothesis Sex differences would occur, but that sexual orientation differences would not i.e.: Biological sex would be more influential on flirting than sexual orientation

Method Participants invited via Facebook, Twitter and a Human Subjects Pool 180 participants (133 female, 47 male; 135 heterosexual, 45 homosexual) Demographic questions Flirting behaviors

Flirting Behaviors Asked to indicate how often they engage in various flirting behaviors (adapted from Moore, 1980) Example of behaviors: Tilting head Lifting eyebrows Touching the arm Leaning on the person Whispering and exaggerating gestures

Analysis Males vs. females on all flirting behaviors Homosexual vs. heterosexual participants on all flirting behaviors Two way analysis of sex and sexual orientation on all flirting behaviors Factor analysis on flirting behaviors Same comparisons using factors

Results: Sex Differences Women were more likely to: Flip hair (p=.00, d=1.0) Pout (p=.04, d=0.3) Giggle (p=.00, d=0.7) Smile shyly (p=.00, d=0.5) Run fingers through hair (p=.00, d=0.5) Put on lipstick/lip balm (p=.00, d=1.0)

Results: Sex Differences Men were more likely to: Stand next to the person (p=.04, d=0.3) Place their palm on the other person (p=.02, d=0.3) Tap the person (p=.00, d=0.4) Touch the other person (p=.03, d=0.3) Flex their arms (p=.00, d=1.0) Point at the other person (p=.04, d=0.3) Lean towards the person (p=.02, d=0.4) Put face next to face (p=.01, d=0.4) Put arm on person’s shoulder (p=.00, d=0.7)

Results: Sex Orientation Sexual Orientation Differences: T-test analyses did not reveal sexual orientation differences for any flirting behaviors Factorial Analysis A 2x2 (sex*sexual orientation) factorial did not reveal any interaction between sex and sexual orientation

Results: Exploratory Factor Analysis The factor analysis revealed two factors: Touching the other person Expressing emotion

Results: T-test with Factors Men were more likely to touch (p=.00, d=0.4) Women more likely to express emotion (p=.00, d=0.5) No difference between homosexual and heterosexual participants for either factor

Discussion Men and women use different flirting behaviors Men more likely to use behaviors that involved touching other person; women were more likely to use emotion expressions No significant differences between homosexual and heterosexual participants

Discussion cont. Evolutionary studies have shown that biological sex may have more of an influence over mating strategies than sexual orientation (e.g. Bailey, Gaulin, Agyei, & Gladue, 1994; Bailey, Kim, Hill, & Linsemeier, 1997; Lippa, 2007). Suggests that in many aspects of mating behaviors, homosexual people may behave in similar ways to heterosexual people

Limitations Small number of participants Disproportionate number of female and heterosexual participants New scale

Future Research More male and homosexual participants Observational research

Thank You! Questions? Email: emmfort@gmail.com sarah.strout@dc.edu