Robert Feldman, professor of psychology and dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and author of The Liar in Your Life: The Way to Truthful Relationships, follows up about whether men are more likely to lie about sex than women.
Comments [9]
I believe men and women equally lie about sex. Not only in relation to how many partners but also the last time they have had it. Women do lie about being on birth control. I was told a female was on the pill but today I'm having my sons 2nd birthday party... WOW!!!!!!!
Men lie more for sex. Women lie more about their sexual conduct. When it comes to birth control men generally are more motivated not to have children if they are unmarried than women are. Therefore, assuming the person is unmarried, I believe men would be more trustworthy than women when it comes to contraception.
The lying seems more prevalent in scenarios in which people are not in a committed relationship; the smartest option is still to use a condom.
And Brian, if women lie these days about how many partners they've had, it's not to appear more chaste - it's to salve their partner's ego. Men tend to feel threatened by the past partners most women have had.
I think the main reason to be leery about trusting a man to take birth control, is that he doesn't physically have to deal with the consequences.
I had a man lie that he had a vasectomy and I got pregnant. 20 years later he admitted he had not had one.
Aside from lying about affairs (both genders equal) I only know one case of lying about taking birth control -- and the poor guy who believed her has been paying child support for 18 years.
I think the main division between people who lie about sex or not is not between men and women, but between members of congress and the rest of us.
Being that the woman bares the burden if becoming pregnant unintentionally, I'd rather take full responsibility.
Of course, the real issue is who lies more FOR sex.
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