Abstract
Preference for a variety of “private wishes” were investigated in two studies. In Study 1, two college samples and two samples of pedestrians selected 10 out of a list of 48 wishes. In Study 2, two college samples rated 20 wishes. Although ethnicity data were not gathered, the populations from which the samples were drawn are ethnically diverse. Correlations of preferences between women and men within samples averaged .86 in Study 1 and .85 in Study 2, indicating a great deal of similarity between genders in their overall wish preferences. By far, the largest gender difference was for the wish “To have sex with anyone I choose.” Men consistently preferred this wish across all samples and age groups. These results point to sexuality in its interpersonal context as a primary focus of difference in the inner emotional lives of women and men.
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We are grateful to Suzanne Kessler, Margaret Miele, and Deedee Springer for their assistance in obtaining subjects, and to the following people for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper: Kay Deaux, Elizabeth Ehrlichman, Carol Gordon, Irwin Katz, Suzanne Kessler, Martha Livingston, Wendy Mckenna, Michele Paludi, Laurie Rindskopf, and Deedee Springer.
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Ehrlichman, H., Eichenstein, R. Private wishes: Gender similarities and differences. Sex Roles 26, 399–422 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00291551
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00291551