Love Through a Distorted Lens: The Role of Self-Objectification in Interpreting Ambiguous Female–Male Interactions as Romantic among Women

Yijia Dong; Xijing Wang; Shuning Pan; Lei Cheng

doi:10.1007/s10508-025-03358-1

Love Through a Distorted Lens: The Role of Self-Objectification in Interpreting Ambiguous Female–Male Interactions as Romantic among Women

Yijia Dong
, Xijing Wang^*
, Shuning Pan
, Lei Cheng

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

11 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

While various kinds of relationships other than romantic ones exist between men and women in modern society, some individuals tend to simply interpret ambiguous female-male interactions as romantic in nature, which is referred to as romantic interpretation bias (RIB). In this research, we examined the effect of self-objectification on RIB among heterosexual women. Our findings from four studies (N = 861), including both cross-sectional surveys (Study 1) and fully controlled experiments (Studies 2, 3A and 3B), consistently showed that women with a higher level of self-objectification exhibited a higher level of RIB when interpreting ambiguous cross-sex interactions. Additionally, this effect could be explained by an increased sense of relationship contingency (Studies 2 and 3B). Importantly, the association between self-objectification and RIB was not only demonstrated in interpreting women’s own ambiguous interactions with men (Studies 1 and 2) but also in interpreting other women’s cross-sex interactions (Studies 3A and 3B). The implications of these findings are discussed.
© The Author(s) 2026

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	409-425
Number of pages	17
Journal	Archives of Sexual Behavior
Volume	55
Issue number	1
Online published	13 Jan 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-025-03358-1
Publication status	Published - Jan 2026

Funding

Open access publishing enabled by City University of Hong Kong Library's agreement with Springer Nature. This research was supported by REG-Small Scale—CityUHK—Small Scale Projects (Project No. 7020163) awarded to Xijing Wang.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 5 Gender Equality
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities

Research Keywords

Self-objectification
Romantic interpretation bias
Female–male interaction
Relationship contingency
Women
Gender inequality

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This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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10.1007/s10508-025-03358-1

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Love Through a Distorted Lens: The Role of Self-Objectification in Interpreting Ambiguous Female–Male Interactions as Romantic among Women. / Dong, Yijia ; Wang, Xijing; Pan, Shuning et al.
In: Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 55, No. 1, 01.2026, p. 409-425.

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

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T2 - The Role of Self-Objectification in Interpreting Ambiguous Female–Male Interactions as Romantic among Women

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AU - Wang, Xijing

AU - Pan, Shuning

AU - Cheng, Lei

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N2 - While various kinds of relationships other than romantic ones exist between men and women in modern society, some individuals tend to simply interpret ambiguous female-male interactions as romantic in nature, which is referred to as romantic interpretation bias (RIB). In this research, we examined the effect of self-objectification on RIB among heterosexual women. Our findings from four studies (N = 861), including both cross-sectional surveys (Study 1) and fully controlled experiments (Studies 2, 3A and 3B), consistently showed that women with a higher level of self-objectification exhibited a higher level of RIB when interpreting ambiguous cross-sex interactions. Additionally, this effect could be explained by an increased sense of relationship contingency (Studies 2 and 3B). Importantly, the association between self-objectification and RIB was not only demonstrated in interpreting women’s own ambiguous interactions with men (Studies 1 and 2) but also in interpreting other women’s cross-sex interactions (Studies 3A and 3B). The implications of these findings are discussed. © The Author(s) 2026

AB - While various kinds of relationships other than romantic ones exist between men and women in modern society, some individuals tend to simply interpret ambiguous female-male interactions as romantic in nature, which is referred to as romantic interpretation bias (RIB). In this research, we examined the effect of self-objectification on RIB among heterosexual women. Our findings from four studies (N = 861), including both cross-sectional surveys (Study 1) and fully controlled experiments (Studies 2, 3A and 3B), consistently showed that women with a higher level of self-objectification exhibited a higher level of RIB when interpreting ambiguous cross-sex interactions. Additionally, this effect could be explained by an increased sense of relationship contingency (Studies 2 and 3B). Importantly, the association between self-objectification and RIB was not only demonstrated in interpreting women’s own ambiguous interactions with men (Studies 1 and 2) but also in interpreting other women’s cross-sex interactions (Studies 3A and 3B). The implications of these findings are discussed. © The Author(s) 2026

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Love Through a Distorted Lens: The Role of Self-Objectification in Interpreting Ambiguous Female–Male Interactions as Romantic among Women

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Research Keywords

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REG-Small Scale: The Lonely Self-Objectifers: How Self-Objectification Hinders Social Bonding Through Romantic Interpretation Bias and Intrasexual Competition

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