London - When it comes to sex, we all want to be normal - and will lie to keep up appearances, according to new research.
Both men and women fib about their sexual behaviour to match cultural expectations, the study found.
For men, this meant being seen as “real men” - the kind who had many partners and a lot of sexual experience.
Women, on the other hand, wanted to be seen as having less sexual experience than they actually had, to match cultural stereotypes.
“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 Ohio State University.
Meanwhile, the study found that men were willing to admit that they sometimes engaged in behaviours seen as more appropriate for women, such as writing poetry,
The same was true for women, who didn't hide the fact that they told obscene jokes, or sometimes participated in other 'male-type' activities.
“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,” said Fischer.
Typically male and female behaviours were identified, such as wearing dirty clothes, telling obscene jokes and singing in the shower (male) and writing poetry, lying about your weight (female).
Then 293 college students between the ages of 18 and 25 were asked how often they engaged in 124 different behaviours (from never to a few times a day).
Some participants filled out the questionnaire attached to what they were told was a working polygraph machine or lie detector (which was not switched on).
Others were connected to the apparatus before the study began - supposedly to measure anxiety - but the machine was removed before they completed the questionnaire.
In general, the results showed that both men and women tended to act as would be expected for their gender.
Men reported more typical-male behaviours and women reported more typical-female behaviours, regardless of whether they were attached to the lie detector or not.
But for non-sexual behaviours, the participants didn't seem to feel any added pressure to respond in stereotypical ways for their gender.
In other words, women who were hooked up to the lie detector - and those who weren't - were equally likely to admit to bench pressing weights, a stereotypical male activity.
“Men and women didn't feel compelled to report what they did in ways that matched the stereotypes for their gender for the non-sexual behaviours,” Fisher said.
The one exception was sexual behaviour, where, for example, men reported more sexual partners when they weren't hooked up to the lie detector than whey they were.
Women reported fewer partners when they were not hooked up to the lie detector than when they were. A similar pattern was found for reports of ever having experienced sexual intercourse.
“Men and women had different answers about their sexual behaviour when they thought they had to be truthful,” Fisher said.
The study appears in a recent issue of the journal Sex Roles.- Daily Mail