Tired men think women are more interested in them
20-08-2013
We all know that being tired can lead to you make regrettable decisions. All of us have experienced a moment of exhaustion that has lead to a foolish choice that on reflection was obviously wrong. A recent study has found that this is true in a very interesting and somewhat embarrassing way.
Trying to make decisions when you are tired is difficult, your brain is not working at its usual capacity and there is always a greater chance for error. That is why there are always campaigns about driving when tired, or operating heavy machinery when tired, but maybe they need to run a campaign about chatting up woman and flirting when you are tired.
You may be wondering why this campaign would need to be run. Well the reason is that a recent study found that tired men think women are more interested in them. Yes, men who have not had enough sleep or whose sleep quality has been impacted are more likely to think that a woman is attracted to them than a man who has slept well.
The study found that tired men may be more likely to overestimate how interested a woman is in them sexually. The researchers discovered that just one night of sleep deprivation could make men's perception of women's sexual interest and intent increase dramatically. Yes, all it takes is a single night of insufficient sleep and your ability to gauge the sexual attraction of a woman drops significantly. That really is worrying and suggests that if you are wanting to go out on the prowl then you better make sure you had a very good night’s sleep or else you are more likely to get a drink thrown at you.
The study looked at a 60-person sample of university students, which is on the small side and is also limited by the narrowness of age, so it would take more research to know if the results are truly representative of the general population, but there are some interesting take away facts that can be gleaned from it.
The study was conducted by asking participants to rate their agreement with a set of statements regarding their own sexual interest and intentions, as well as the sexual interest and intent of men and women in general, with questions like “When a woman goes out to a bar, how likely is it that she is interested in finding someone to have sex with that night?” They found that men who had less sleep were more likely to think that women were out for sex when they went to bars.
The head of the study said that “Our findings here are similar to those from studies using alcohol, which similarly inhibits the frontal lobe. Sleep deprivation could have unexpected effects on perceptual experiences related to mating and dating that could lead people to engage in sexual decisions that they might otherwise not when they are well-rested. Poor decision-making in these areas can lead to problems such as sexual harassment, unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and relationship conflicts which are all factors that have serious medical, educational and economic implications for both the individual and for society.”
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