Background and aims: Despite the high prevalence of perceived problems relating to symptoms of hypersexual disorder (HD), important aspects remain underinvestigated. This study examines symptoms of depression, symptoms of problematic cybersex, and coercive sexual behavior in a large online sample from a German-speaking population. Methods: In an online survey, N = 1,194 (n = 564 women) participated in this study and completed measures including self-report questionnaires to assess depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), HD (HBI-19), symptoms of problematic cybersex (s-IATsex), as well as questions characterizing participants sexually, including fantasies and actual sexual coercive behaviors. Results: Men reported increased levels of HD symptom severity, pornography consumption, masturbation, and partnered sexual activity. Moreover, 59% of men and 18% of women reported fantasies of sexual coercion, whereas 21% of men and 4% of women reported acts of sexual coercion. Moderated regression analyses showed that symptoms of depression as well as sexual coercive fantasies and behaviors were associated with levels of HD symptom severity. Problematic cybersex, total sexual outlet (TSO), pornography consumption, and number of sexual partners were also associated with HD symptom severity. Interaction effects indicated that, in women, the connection of TSO as well as pornography was more strongly associated with levels of HD symptom severity than in men. Conclusions: This survey indicated that levels of HD symptom severity are often associated with severe intraand interpersonal difficulties. Furthermore, the amount of sexual activity seems to be more strongly connected to levels of HD symptom severity in women than in men.

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In this study we examined how people perceive social‐sexual behavior of women and men, and how these perceptions were associated with beliefs about the outcomes of the #MeToo movement, sexism, traditional values, and gender equality. In addition, we examined the effect of having experienced sexual harassment on such perceptions. Analyses were performed on a Norwegian snowball social media sample covering 321 women and 168 men, aged 18–59 (M = 33.1). Outcome variables covered perceptions of scenarios that described opposite‐sex social‐sexual behaviors performed by female and male actors within the workplace environment. Path analysis showed that negative beliefs about the outcomes of the #MeToo movement was the principal predictor for perception of female and male social‐sexual behavior as sexual harassment for women and men participants. Traditional values, gender equality, and hostile sexism toward women were all associated with perception of social‐sexual behavior as sexual harassment, however the effects of these variables were only indirect and fully accounted for by the effect of negative #MeToo beliefs. For women, having experienced sexual harassment was associated with hostile sexism toward men, but had no effect on the perceptions over and above the effect of the other variables in the model. The predictors on participants’ perceptions were highly similar for women and men and for evaluations of female and male actors. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.

Flirting involves various signals communicated between individuals. To attract potential mates, men and women exhibit flirtatious behavior to get the attention of, and potentially elicit sexual or romantic interest from, a desired partner. In this first large, preregistered study of judgement of the effectiveness of flirtation tactics based on Sexual Strategies Theory, we considered the effects of flirter’s (actor) sex and mating contexts in addition to rater's (participant) sex across two cultures, Norway and the U.S. Culturally relevant covariates such as sociosexuality, extraversion, mate value, age, and religiosity were examined. Participants from Norway (N = 415, 56% women) and the US (N = 577, 69% women) responded to one of four different randomized questionnaires representing a factorial design considering either short-term versus long-term mating context and either female or male sex of actor. We found that sexual availability cues were judged more effective when employed by women in short-term mating contexts. Friendly contact, such as hugs or kissing on the cheek, was not. Cues to generosity and commitment were judged more effective when employed by men in long-term mating contexts. Humor was rated as more effective when used by men and in long-term contexts, and least effective when used by women in short term contexts. However, laughing or giggling at someone's jokes was an effective flirtation tactic for both sexes. Overall, predictions for culturally relevant covariates were not supported, but cultural differences were found in bodily displays, initial contact, and generosity. These findings dovetail neatly with findings from the self-promotion literature, and further support that flirtation is a universal mate signaling strategy.

Sexual conflict is the conflict between the evolutionary interests of individuals of different sexes. Sexual conflict may result in sexually antagonistic coevolution, producing sex-specific adaptations that are involved in cooperation and conflict concerning sex and other mating-relevant aspects between individual men and women. Sexual conflict is studied in many species; however, human long-term relationship maintenance provides a special case. The current chapter introduces the concept of sexual conflict and considers sexual conflict in the context of species-specific and species-typical long-term relationship maintenance. Different expressions of this include phenomena such as parental investment conflict, relationship satisfaction, intercourse frequency in couples, mate retention tactics, jealousy, infidelity, threat to the relationship, breakup, and forgiveness. Evolutionary psychology theory and empirical findings from studies of these phenomena will be presented and discussed within a metanarrative of how human evolved psychology influences contemporary romantic relationships.

Sex differences in jealousy responses to sexual and emotional infidelity are robust in samples of heterosexual adults, especially in more gender egalitarian nations. However, investigations of when and how these differences develop have been scant. We applied two forced choice infidelity scenarios in a large community sample of high school students (age 16–19, N = 1266). In line with previous findings on adults using the forced choice paradigm, adolescent males found the sexual aspect of imagined infidelity more distressing than adolescent females did. Nevertheless, there was no effect of age on the jealousy responses, and age did not moderate the sex difference. There were neither any effects of three covariates (having had first sexual intercourse, being in a committed romantic relationship, and sociosexuality), neither as markers of pubertal maturation nor as psychosocial environmental stimuli. Future research needs to investigate even younger samples in order to specify at what age the sex difference in jealousy responses emerges.

Cross-cultural empirical research testing evolutionary perspectives and human universals are important. There is considerable variation in women’s rights, traditional gender roles, and political influence across different societies. Competing theories provide different explanations and predictions for sex differences observed in humans. Social role theory explicitly predicts a reduction in sex differences in more gender egalitarian societies due to societal influence on gender roles, whereas sexual strategies theory, although not being dismissive of cultural influence or effects of local ecological factors, predicts more stable sex differences based on parental investment theory and women and men have faced different adaptive problems throughout evolutionary history. Here we present more than a decade of empirical research from Norway, one of the most egalitarian societies in the world. We find no support for consistently smaller sex differences in samples from Norway in interest in sexual variation, sociosexuality, partner preferences, reasons for sex, sexual initiative and response, sexual over- and underperception, sexual regret and postcoital emotions, jealousy responses, or derogation and self-promotion. We conclude from these many studies that empirical predictions from social role theory are not supported. In contrast, the strong pervasiveness of sex differences across sexually egalitarian cultures supports predictions from sexual strategies theory.

Introduction How we perceive social-sexual behavior, and to what extent we consider such behavior to be sexual harassment, is dependent on several situational factors. Prototypical #MeToo features (male actor and female target, higher status, repeated, private behavior, sexualized physical contact) have previously been shown to increase the degree to which social-sexual behavior is perceived as sexual harassment. The effect of those features needs to be investigated for types of harassment that involve same-gender sexual harassment and harassment of LGBTQ + people. To gain a wider perspective on the perception of social-sexual behavior as sexual harassment, this preregistered study aims to examine same-gender interactions and lesbian and gay actors and targets, in addition to replicating earlier findings about #MeToo features in opposite-sex constellations. Methods We applied five hypothetical scenarios to a Norwegian online sample of 888 participants between 18 and 60 (58.3% cis women, 40.8% cis men, 0.9% transgender/genderfluid/non-binary). The sampling process took place during the spring term 2020 and aimed at recruiting LGBTQ + people (63.3% of the sample self-identifying as heterosexual, 20% gay/lesbian, 10.7% bisexual, 3.2% pansexual, and 1.9% “other”). Results #MeToo features in each scenario clearly increased the degree to which social-sexual behavior was perceived as sexual harassment across gender identity and sexual orientation. The effect of private vs. public behavior was contingent on the type of behavior. Men rated behavior less as sexual harassment than women and people of other gender identities. Conclusions The current study shows that there was considerable consensus as to what sexual harassment entails in the five scenarios across gender identity and sexual orientation. Policy Implications Organizations should include prototypical #MeToo features in interventions, to illustrate how a situation might be more or less undesired and therefore experienced as harassment under different circumstances.