Sex Differences In Intimacy Motivation

Affiliation motivation in the literature has been conceptualized as inclusive of both intimacy and sociability needs. It is hypothesized here that the affiliative interests of males and females differ specifically in the strength of the motivation toward intimacy. Using a projective cue with a sample of high school students, highly significant sex differences in Intimacy Imagery were obtained. In addition, it was found that males who showed a stereotypically masculine orientation in their projective responses to two cues were less likely than other males to write stories containing Intimacy Imagery.