The Psychological Record, 2005, 55, 305-314

ATTRIBUTIONS OF DECEPTION IN DATIING SITUATIONS

JOSEPH J. BENZ, MARY K. ANDERSON, and RICHARD L. MILLER University of Nebraska at Kearney

Mate selection criteria for humans, and the concept of deception as a mating strategy, have both been demonstrated by past research. This study provides evidence that men and women believe that the mate selection criteria used by one sex corresponds to the deceptive tactics used by tile opposite sex. A survey of the deceptive techniques used by men and women was completed by 62 women and 30 men. Results showed that both men and women believe that men attempt to deceive women about their financial status and level of commitment, and that women attempt to deceive men about their physical attractiveness. Thus, both sexes expect deception by the opposite sex in evolutionarily relevant areas of mate choice. These results support the theory that men and women attempt to deceive potential mates about evolutionarily relevant characteristics, but the opposite sex is aware of these likely deceptions.

From an evolutionary perspective, finding and Ikeeping a mate requires that individuals display their resources, especially those aspects of one's self that are likely to attract a desirable partner (Buss, 1988a). In general, researchers have found that men look for youth and beauty in a partner, while women look for a partner with financial status and likelihood of long­term commitment (Buss, 1989; Buss et aI., 19910; Hatfield & Sprecher, 1995). These gender differences seem to occur as human beings are selected through evolution to respond to specific e)(ternal cues provided by the opposite sex. These cues relate in large part to the different reproductive benefits of mating that men and women experience. Women gain more reproductive benefits from mating with a partner who has the resources and attentiveness to help raise their offspring, while men reap more reproductive benefits from mating with as many women as possible who have high childbearing potential (Buss, 1994). Differences in mproductive benefits lead

This paper was based on research presented by Malry Anderson at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Lexington, Kentucky.

Correspondence concerning this manuscript should be directed to Dr. Joseph Benz, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, NE 68849. (E-rnail: joebenz@unk.edu).

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to different mate preferences by the two sexes. Men often seek such characteristics as physical attractiveness, youth, and health in women, while women may look for men with large present or potential resource-holding capabilities (Buss, 1985, 1988b; Feingold, 1990, 1992; Sprecher, Sullivan, & Hatfield,1994).

Humans do not mate randomly (Buss, 1985) and effective strategies are essential for mating to be successful. One of the key mating strategies or tactics used by humans to compete for reproductively relevant resources is deception (Buss, 1988b; Keenan, Gallup, Goulet, & Kulkarni, 1997; Tooke & Camire, 1991). If one does not honestly possess the desired characteristics to attract a mate, then in order to obtain a mate, one must portray the image that he/she now, or will in the future, have these qualities. This image, to the extent that it is false, may require some skill in deception to make it believable to a potential mate.

Tooke and Camire (1991) found that men use deception more frequently with regard to financial resources, while women more often attempt to deceive men about their physical characteristics; a pattern of intersexual deception that coincides with the mate selection criteria of evolutionary theory. Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume that men will expect deception by women with regards to their physical characteristics, and that women will expect deception by men with regards to their financial resources.

Deception works best as a technique for acquiring a potential mate when individuals are not expecting it. To reduce our vulnerability to this type of deception, men and women may be particularly wary of information related to characteristics important to mate selection, especially information that suggests that the potential partner possesses highly desirable characteristics. Keenan et al. (1997) found that women expect men to be more deceptive, and to use the most deception about their resources, or financial characteristics. Their findings were based on a survey that asked the participants to rate deception strategies used by the opposite gender when dating. The survey questions addressed financial resources, commitment, and physical characteristics. The results of Keenan et al. showed that women predicted that men would be deceptive about financial characteristics, whereas, men did not predict that women would be deceptive about financial characteristics. Women also predicted that men would be deceptive about commitment, whereas men did not predict that women would be deceptive about commitment. Oddly, their results showed no tendency for men to assume that women deceive men about their physical attractiveness to a greater extent than about commitment or finances. This last result seems to conflict with evolutionary theory. However, this may have been due to the small number of men in their study.

The first purpose of our study was to replicate the Keenan et al. (1997) research, using a larger sample size, in order to determine if men believe that women will be deceptive about their physical appearance. The second purpose was to discover not only the intersexual attributions

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of deception but also the intrasexual attributions. Sexual selection theory holds that individuals must not only attract members of the opposite sex but that they must also compete with members of their own sex for the best mates (Buss, 1994). Therefore, we predict that because women have more to lose in terms of mating mistakes, they will not only be more wary of male deception, but because of compE3tition, they will also be more wary of female deception.

Method

Participants Participants were 92 (62 women, 30 men) undergraduate students

from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 41 (M = 21). Participants were recruited from introductory level psychology classes and part.icipated in order to get extra credit or fulfill course requirements.

Materials The two questionnaires used items from the deception survey used

by Keenan et al. (1997). The questionnaires were identical, except that one questionnaire asked participants if men would engage in particular behaviors to deceive women, while the parallel form of the questionnaire asked if women would engage in particular behaviors to deceive men. For

Table 1

Commitment, Financial, and Physical Deception Scales for the Female Survey

Subscale Survey question

Commitment On a date, females would lead males to believe they are more interested in raising children than they actually are. Females would try to portray themselves as more committed to males than they really are. On a date, females would portray themselves as more interested in having a long-term relationship than they really are. Females would exaggerate their interest in being a mother to impress a date.

Financial On a first date, females would dress as if they have morEl money than they do. On a date, females would exaggerate their career objectives to impress males. Females would spend more money on a date than they should/can afford. Females would exaggerate their job title to males on a date Females would use a credit card on a date to impress males.

Physical Females would wear heels to appear taller than they are. a If there was a blemish on their face, females would "cover it up" before going on a date." On a date, females would wear clothes that show off their body more than they normally WOUld. Females would change the way that they carry themselves physically (the way that they walk, their posture when sitting or standing) on a date. On a date, females would wear particular clothing (e.g., baggy clothes, dark clothes, stripes) to conceal their weight. When in a bathing suit, females would "suck in their stomach" when males are present.

' For the male survey, the word female was replaced with male, and male was replaced with female. aThese two items were later removed from the analysis when revising the physical scale score for women.

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example, the first item on Form 1 states "On a date, females would lead males to believe they are more interested in raising children than they actually are," while on Form 2 the item is worded as "On a date, males would lead females to believe they are more interested in raising children than they actually are." Each form of the questionnaire consisted of 15 items, dealing with three issues in a relationship; commitment, physical appearance, and financial status (cf. Keenan et aI., see Table 1). Participants rated each item on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree).

Table 2

Deception Measures for Forced-Choice Questions Concerning Men

Respondents Male Female Total 2 x 2

On a date, men would

Physical Exaggerate their future workout/fitness goals. Financial Exaggerate their future career goals. Goodness-of-Fit X2

Physical Wear clothes that exaggerate certain physical features. Financial Exaggerate their future career goals. Goodness-of-Fit X2

Physical Exaggerate their future workout/fitness goals. Financial Exaggerate the amount of money that they earn. Goodness-of-Fit X2

Physical Wear clothes that exaggerate certain physical features. Financial Exaggerate the amount of money that they earn. Goodness-of-Fit X2

*p < .05

Table 3

(29)

9 20

4.17*

8 21

5.83*

4 25 15.21 *

9 20

4.17*

(61)

17 44 11.95*

18 43 10.25*

5 56 42.64*

7 54 36.21 *

(90)

26 64 16.04*

26 64 16.04*

9 81 56.60*

16 74 36.21 *

Deception Measures for Forced-Choice Questions Concerning Women

Respondents Male Female Total

On a date, women would (29) (61) (90)

Physical Exaggerate their future workout/fitness goals. 16 20 36 Financial Exaggerate their future career goals. 13 41 54 Goodness-of-Fit X2 0.31 17.23* 3.60

Physical Wear clothes that exaggerate certain physical features. 26 57 83 Financial Exaggerate their future career goals. 3 4 7 Goodness-of-Fit X2 18.24* 46.05* 64.18*

Physical Exaggerate their future workout/fitness goals. 23 23 46 Financial Exaggerate the amount of money that they earn. 6 38 44 Goodness-of-Fit X2 9.97* 3.69* 0.04

Physical Wear clothes that exaggerate certain physical features. 29 52 81 Financial Exaggerate the amount of money that they earn. 0 9 9 Goodness-of-Fit X2 29.00* 30.31 * 57.60*

' p < .05

0.10

0.04

0.68

5.14*

2x2

X2

4.10*

0.39

13.62*

4.75*

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Included on each form were four forced-choice items that asked the participant to select from two forms of deception the most likely to be used by either a man or a woman (see Tables 2 & 3). Thus, each participant completed a questionnaire about potentially deceptive behaviors used by the opposite sex, and another questionnaire about the deceptive behaviors used by the same sex.

Design and Procedure A 2 x 2 mixed-subjects design was used, with sex of the participant

and gender of the person referred to in each of the questionnaires as the independent variables. The participants' rating of the likelihood that men and women would engage in a deceptive practice was the dependent variable. The surveys were administered to the participants in small groups. The experimenter instructed the participants to first complete the Likert-scaled items, then the forced-choice items. The overall expectation of deception was used as the measure of general wariness, while the expectations of deception by the opposite sex on specific issues was used to test the evolutionary hypothesis.

Results

Forced-Choice Items Participants answered eight questions that used the forced-choice

format; four concerning men, and four concerning women. These forced­choice questions are displayed in Table 2 for men and Table 3 for women. Data from each forced-choice format question were cast into a 2 (Participant Sex) x 2 (Response Choice) contingency table, and analyzed first using chi-square contingency tests, followed by chi-square goodness-of-fit tests for men and women separately. The results of these analyses are also displayed in Tables 2 and 3.

Questions about men. When forced-choice format questions about men were presented, there were no differences between men's and women's ratings of deceptive behaviors (see Table 2 for X2 contingency table results). Both men and women indicated that men would be more likely to exaggerate about those behaviors traditionally associated with male mating strategies than those behaviors associated with female mating strategies. Specifically, both men and women indicated that men would be more likely to exaggerate their future career goals rather than either (a) wearing clothes that exaggerate certain physical features, X2(1 , N = 90) = 16.04, P < .05, or (b) exaggerating their workout goals, X2(1, N = 90) = 16.04, P < .05. Both men and women also indicated that men would be more likely to exaggerate the amount of money they earn rather than (a) wearing clothes that exaggerate certain physical features, X2(1, N = 90) = 37.38, P < .05, or (b) exaggerating their workout goals, X2(1, N = 90) = 56.60, P < .05.

Questions about women. When forced-choice format questions about women were presented, both men and women indicated that women

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would be more likely to exaggerate about those behaviors traditionally associated with female mating strategies than those behaviors associated with male mating strategies. Specifically, both men and women indicated that women would be more likely to exaggerate certain physical features than either (a) exaggerate their future career goals, X2(1, N = 90) = 64.18, P < .05, or (b) exaggerate the amount of money that they earn, X2(1, N = 90) = 57.60, P < .05.

There were unpredicted findings on the forced-choice questions about women's future workout goals compared to other mating strategies. Male participants indicated that women would be equally likely to exaggerate their future workout/fitness goals or their future career goals, X2(1, N = 90) = 0.31, p> .05. However, female participants indicated that women would be more likely to exaggerate their future career goals over their future workout/fitness goals, X2(1, N = 90) = 17.23, P < .05. Likewise, while male participants demonstrated the expected pattern in indicating that women would be more likely to exaggerate their future workout/fitness goals over the amount of money that they earn, X2(1, N = 90) = 9.97, P < .05, female participants indicated that women would be more likely to exaggerate the amount of money that they earn over their future workout/fitness goals, X2(1, N = 90) = 3.69, P = .05. In other words, female participants indicated that women would attempt to impress a man about their career goals and money earned as opposed to workout/fitness goals.

Scaled Questions Subscale scores for physical appearance, financial matters, and

commitment were created by calculating a mean score from each of the questions related to physical appearance (6 questions), financial matters (5 questions), and commitment (4 questions). The overall deception score was created by calculating a mean for all three subscale scores. A 2 (Sex: sex of the participant) x 2 (Gender: gender as portrayed on the questionnaire) analysis of variance was conducted on the attributions of deception for each subscale (physical, financial, and commitment, and for the overall scale).

To test for general wariness, an ANOVA was performed on the combined score from all three subscales. There was not a significant main effect of gender, (F < 1) or of sex, F(1, 88) = 2.25, MSE = 99.7, p> .05. Also, there was no significant Sex x Gender interaction, F(1, 88) = 1.20, MSE = 29.69, p> .05.

On the commitment subscale, there was a significant main effect of gender, F(1, 90) = 43.14, MSE = 0.43, P < .001, with both men and women rating deception by men (M = 3.27) as more likely than deception by women (M = 2.58). However there was no significant main effect of sex (F < 1), nor was there a significant interaction (F < 1).

For the financial subscale, there was a significant main effect of gender, F(1, 90) = 70.18 MSE = 0.38, P < .001, with both men and women rating deception by men (M = 3.85) as more likely than deception by women (M =

PERCEIVED DECEPTION IN DATING SITUATIONS 311

3.06). There was also a significant main effect of sex, F(1, 90) = 8.97, MSE = 0.69, P = .005, with women (M = 3.58) rating decHption as more likely than men (M = 3.19). There was not a significant interaction (F < 1).

For the physical subscale, there was a significant main effect of gender, F(1, 90) = 123.43, MSE = 0.39, P < .001, with bottl men and women rating deception by women (M = 3.92) as more likely than deception by men (M = 2.78). There was no significant main effect of sex (F < 1), nor was there a significant interaction, F(1, 90) = 1.98, MSE = 0.39, P >.05.

It could be argued that some of the questions in the physical subscale would be more characteristic of women than of men, or might be practiced by women as a 'fashion statement' rather than a deceptive practice. These items include "Females would wear heels to appear taller than they are," and "If there was a blemish on their face, females would 'cover it up' before going on a date." One could argue that these behaviors (wearing high heels and makeup) are a standard part of contemporary female behavior in Western society, and not part of a conscious effort to deceive potential mates. This is a valid argument, even though the items on the subscale explicitly indicate that the purpose of the behavior is to change the wearer's appearance.

In order to determine if the pattern of deception found in the initial analyses was the result of gender specific behaviors not intended to be deceptive, we removed these two items from the mean physical subscale score concerning women's behavior. Thus, in this reanalysis, the physical subscale score for women was composed of the average of the following four items only. (1) On a date, females would WE3ar clothes that show off their body more than they normally would. (2) Females would change the way that they carry themselves physically (the way that they walk, their posture when sitting or standing) on a date. (3) On a date, females would wear particular clothing (e.g., baggy clothes, dark clothes, stripes) to conceal their weight. (4) When in a bathing suit, females would "suck in their stomach" when males are present.

A 2 (sex) x 2 (gender) analysis of variance was then conducted on these new data. There was no significant main effect of sex, F(1, 90) = 1.84, MSE = 0.72, p> .05. There was a significant main effect of gender, F(1, 90) = 100.31, MSE = 0.41, P < .001. Women (M = 3.86) were rated as significantly more likely to engage in these behaviors than men (M = 2.78). There was also a significant interaction between sex and gender, F(1 , 90) = 4.08, MSE = 0.41, P < .05. Although both male (M = 2.79) and female (M = 2.77) respondents rated men as approximately equally likely to engage in these behaviors, male respondents (M = 3.60) rated women as less likely to engage in these behaviors than did female respondents (M = 3.98). This difference, however, was not significant when analyzed using the Tukey HSD test, F(1, 90) = 4.56, P > .05. Since the pattern of results does not differ between the original physical subscale and the revised physical subscale, we can conclude that the differences in the deception ratings for men and women were not due to gender specific nondeceptive behaviors practiced by women.

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Discussion

Previous research (Buss, 1988b; Tooke & Camire, 1991) supports the idea that men seek women who are physically attractive, youthful, and healthy, while women look for men likely to sustain a commitment, with present or potential resource-holding capability. By extending the Keenan et al. (1997) research, we hoped to determine the characteristics men and women assume that other men and women will lie about to a potential partner. We predicted that women would be more wary than men of deception strategies commonly used by the opposite sex because women have more to lose from deception by the opposite sex. Further, we wanted to extend the Keenan et al. research by asking men and women to rate members of the same sex as well as members of the opposite sex. That is, we wanted to know whether men and women have congruent views of the characteristics about which women (and men) are most likely to be deceptive.

Using both forced-choice format questions and Likert-scaled items, the results generally supported our hypothesis that men and women assume that (a) women are more likely to lie about their physical attractiveness, while (b) men are more likely to lie about their financial status, and their likelihood for commitment to a relationship. On the forced-choice questions, women indicated that women exaggerate physical features over both future career goals or the amount of money that they earn, a finding consistent with evolutionary theory. However women also indicated that women were more likely to exaggerate either future career goals or money earned over future workout/fitness goals, which at first glance seems inconsistent with evolutionary theory. A possible explanation for this finding is that exaggerating workout/fitness goals could easily be interpreted as an admission that the woman was out of shape. The implication that a woman is out of shape, when (evolutionarily) the man is looking for a partner who is fit and attractive, would be counterproductive.

Men's ratings of women demonstrated a different pattern. Men indicted that women would be equally likely to exaggerate physical attractiveness or future workout/fitness goals over future career goals or money earned. This result is consistent with evolutionary theory. Possibly when men think of fitness goals, the image that comes to their mind is that of workout videos in which the performers are most often attractive females. In comparison to men, women expected that deception about finances was more likely. Both men and women agreed that men were the most likely to be deceptive about financial matters.

Our results partially replicate the Keenan et al. (1997) study that found intersexual differences with regard to deception and mating strategies. In addition, three important findings should be noted. First, with respect to perceived intersexual deception, our results closely matched theirs except for one important detail: Keenan et al. found that men did not assume deception by women regarding physical

PERCEIVED DECEPTION IN DATING SITUATIONS 313

attractiveness, financial matters, or commitment. The men in our study assumed that women would attempt to deceive men about physical attractiveness. This supports Tooke and Camire's (1991) finding that the deceptive strategies or tactics used by men and women correspond to the mate selection criteria of the opposite sex. Our findings may have differed from that of Keenan et al. because we used more male participants (29 vs. 18), which increased the power of the resulting statistical analysis.

Secondly, we found that women are more likely than men to assume that both men and women are deceptive about financial matters. This may be due to two related factors. First, from an evolutionary perspective, the penalties for being deceived are more severe for women than for men because women are potentially at risk for losing 9 months (at a minimum) of reproductive effort if they are deceived. Second, because commitment can be gauged through the interaction between a man and a woman, deception with regard to commitment is easier to detect than deception about financial matters.

The last important finding of our research is related to intrasexual deception. Although both men and women agreed on what men are likely to lie about (resources) , they disagreed on what women lie about. The data from the forced-choice format questions sug!~est that men think that women lie about physical attractiveness whereas women believe that women lie about such characteristics as career goals. This difference may reflect our changing society. Whereas men may continue to value traditional gender resources in women, the importance of career issues may be of greater importance to women. Thus, women are more likely to expect other women to lie about career issues.

Our results did not support our prediction that women assume more deception from other women on characteristics relevant to mate selection, than men do from other men. Also, unlike the Keenan et al. study, we did not find that men were judged as generally more deceptive than women . Consistent with evolutionary theory, our findings indicated that only on the separate dimensions used by men and women for evaluating a potential mate were men and women judged most likely to deceive.

Men and women often deceive each other to gain access to the resources the other possesses. Thus, the conflicts that arise between men and women related to relationships can be exacerbated by deception. As a result, wariness about what a man or woman has to say on dimensions related to their desirability as a mate is an important trait with far reaching consequences. Previous research has indicated that both sexes lie about those dimensions that make them more desirable to a potential mate. Our research indicates that both men and women also expect that members of the opposite sex will lie about those same dimensions.

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