173 men and 216 women were approached by a number of moderately attractive confederates of the opposite gender. After a standard introduction, subjects were asked one of the following three questions: “Would you go on a date with me tonight or during the week/weekend?”, “Would you come to my place tonight or during the week/weekend?”, or “Would you go to bed with me tonight or during the week/weekend?”
Significantly more men than women consented to a sexual invitation. For female subjects’ higher ratings of confederate attractiveness were found to significantly increase the odds of consenting to a sexual invitation. Relationship status was found to be a significant and strong moderating variable of consent for both men and women.
Correcting for relationship status the study found that men will agree to sexual invitations from complete strangers of the opposite gender more readily than women thus supporting the primary conclusion from Clark and Hatfield (1989). Further, the study underline the importance of attractiveness for women and relationship status for both men and women in short term mating. (Evolution & Human Behavior, Volume 31, Issue 6 , Pages 453-458, November 2010)