Jennifer MartinApril 24, 2014Research ProposalPrevious research has reported several gender differences between men and women when it comes to desire for sex. According to the book Personality Psychology: Domains of Knowledge About Human Nature by Randy J. Larson and David M. Buss, men view pornography more often than women (d=.63). Men also desire more sexual partners, have more frequent sexual partners, and are more willing to accept offers of sex from strangers (Hald & Hogh-Olesen, 2010). Evolutionarily, sex differences have been based on parental investment and sexual selection theory. The sex that invests less in offspring is less discriminatory in choosing a mate. Because women have a more obligatory role in parental investment, they place greater importance on mate choice, while men place greater value on a woman's physical appearance. Although men score higher on ratings of desire for sex, women score higher on emotional investment. Women tend to score higher on items such as passionate, cuddly, affectionate, and romantic (Larson & Buss 2014). Although much research has highlighted gender differences between men and women, there are many similarities. The researchers of this study try to find out if the above differences are true for men who were emotionally involved before the test. Do men and women differ in their desire to have sex after the end of a relationship in which they were both emotionally involved? According to an article written by Brant R. Burleson, research has shown that both men and women desire intimacy in their intimate relationships (Wright, 1998) and see empathy and trust as two of the most important relationship values intimate (Parks & Floyd, 1996). Both......middle of paper......r closer and longer romantic relationship with an emphasis on the emotional aspect of the relationship.4) Self-assessments of desire for sexual variety in their current state using the method The “Number of Partners” measure, the “Known Time” measure, and the “Short-Term Search” measure, originally used by Buss and Schmitt (1993). We expect the results of this study to agree with our hypothesis. After comparing scores on all three measures for both men and women, we expect to see a decrease in desire for sexual variety for men on all three measures and no change in sexual variety for women after close relationships. According to the research presented at the beginning of this proposal, we found that men and women differ in their desire for sexual variety, but because they share similarities in relationship values, men are influenced by intimate relationships.