The Relationship Between Viewing Time and Sexual Attraction Ratings

• Main Author: Rees, Micah James
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2019
• Subjects: psychosexual behavior; test validity; sexual attraction; Education
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/7575; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8575&context=etd

The LOOK is an iPad-based application that measures sexual interest. It does this by recording the amount of time individuals take to view and rate the attractiveness of images of fully clothed people from differing age, gender, and racial demographics. Viewing-time measures, such as the LOOK, operate under the assumption that individuals view sexually attractive images longer than they view images that they deem unattractive or sexually non-preferred. Although there is research to show the efficacy of these kinds of tests, there is a lack of research supporting the assumption that viewing-time correlates strongly with reported ratings of sexual preferences. This study analyzed existing data from the LOOK to assess the nature of this correlation and how it varies across gender groups. The results of this analysis found that a moderately sized correlation did exist between time spent rating the image (Rate-time) and the subsequent rating of sexual attraction (Ratings) in most age and gender categories. However, for both men and women, these correlations were significantly weaker or were negative in target categories (those categories in which they rated the highest amount of sexual attraction). Additionally, cluster analysis indicated two clusters within both the male and female participant groups that had significantly different mean Rate-time, mean Ratings, and correlation coefficients. Given these results, the viewing-time theory that Rate-time is strongly associated with sexual attraction is questionable. A greater understanding of what viewing-time measures truly assess will require additional research.