Verified by The Heat of The Moment
Making decisions while turned on can be as dangerous as making them while tuned out.
By Matthew Hutson published September 1, 2006 - last reviewed on June 9, 2016
What Will You Do
When In the Mood?
We've all heard of beer goggles, but making decisions while turned on can be as dangerous as making them while tuned out.
For years, economist George Loewenstein of Carnegie Mellon University has been exploring "hot-cold empathy gaps." If you're not hungry or angry or in pain, you can't accurately predict how you'll behave when you are. In a study with Dan Ariely of MIT, he looked at decision-making during sexual arousal.
Male college students answered questions about sexual turn-ons, their ethical boundaries in the pursuit of sex and their willingness to engage in risky sexual behavior. They responded before and during self-stimulation.
Some results are amusing, others alarming. While in the mood, men are much more into shoes, spanking, sweat and sexing up someone they hate. But they're also much more willing to slip a woman a drug or skip slipping on a condom.
Ariely expects similar results with women. His larger goal: "I want a debate about sexual education, how we should train people to be able to resist if they want to resist."
