Overview
- Peer‑reviewed research in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin reports that sexual arousal made people read mixed romantic cues as interest.
- Researchers showed participants either sexual or nonsexual videos, then paired them in scripted online chats with partners sending ambiguous signals, with independent coders checking perceptions.
- The optimism effect appeared only when cues left room for uncertainty, and it vanished when the partner gave an explicit rejection.
- Arousal increased how desirable the partner seemed, and that higher desirability then drove the hopeful reading of the same messages.
- The authors note limits from the lab setup and student sample and call for tests in real online dating contexts and across different ages and relationship stages.