Contact Avoidance for Romantic Interests

Abstract

This study analyzed contact avoidance for romantic interests compared to friends. Undergraduates (N=334; 208 females) participated in a questionnaire survey. They were asked to recall a romantic interest, a same sex friend, and an opposite sex friend and rate the extent to which they did not wish to have contact with each individual in eight situations. Both men and women reported lower levels of contact avoidance for romantic interests than for opposite sex friends, but this tendency was more significant in women. Women showed considerably higher avoidance of opposite sex friends, and less avoidance of romantic interests. However, the levels of women's avoidance of romantic interests were not lower than that for same sex friends. In contrast, men showed a lower level of contact avoidance for romantic interests than for both same sex and opposite sex friends. The results were discussed mainly with reference to the function of contact avoidance as a sexual defense.View full abstract