# Love Through a Distorted Lens: The Role of Self-Objectification in Interpreting Ambiguous Female–Male Interactions as Romantic among Women

## TL;DR

This study explores how self-objectification influences heterosexual women to interpret ambiguous interactions with men as romantic.

## Contribution

The research reveals that self-objectification increases romantic interpretation bias, even when observing other women’s interactions.

## Key findings

- Women with higher self-objectification showed greater romantic interpretation bias.
- This bias was linked to a heightened sense of relationship contingency.
- The effect was observed both in personal and observed ambiguous interactions.

## Abstract

While various kinds of relationships other than romantic ones exist between men and women in modern society, some individuals tend to simply interpret ambiguous female-male interactions as romantic in nature, which is referred to as romantic interpretation bias (RIB). In this research, we examined the effect of self-objectification on RIB among heterosexual women. Our findings from four studies (N = 861), including both cross-sectional surveys (Study 1) and fully controlled experiments (Studies 2, 3A and 3B), consistently showed that women with a higher level of self-objectification exhibited a higher level of RIB when interpreting ambiguous cross-sex interactions. Additionally, this effect could be explained by an increased sense of relationship contingency (Studies 2 and 3B). Importantly, the association between self-objectification and RIB was not only demonstrated in interpreting women’s own ambiguous interactions with men (Studies 1 and 2) but also in interpreting other women’s cross-sex interactions (Studies 3A and 3B). The implications of these findings are discussed.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10508-025-03358-1.