Study finds male tendency to misread female friendliness grows across late adolescence
Feb 22nd 2026
Survey of 1,290 Norwegian teens aged 16 to 19 shows male overperception of female interest strengthens from mid to late teens while girls rarely have their romantic advances dismissed.
- The study analyzed self reports from 1,290 heterosexual students in Norway aged 16 to 19 about being overperceived or underperceived in romantic contexts.
- Reports that males mistook female friendliness for sexual interest rose from 7 percent at age 16 to 25 percent at age 19, with a clear increase beginning at 17.
- Across ages 16 to 19 about 13 percent of boys said their romantic interest was dismissed as just friendliness, while only 3 percent of girls reported the same.
- A short spike in girls overperceiving boys occurred between ages 16 and 18 but fell to 3 percent at 19, producing a female underperception bias at that age.
- Higher sociosexuality increased the chance of being overperceived for both sexes and increased underperception risk for boys, and boys who rated themselves higher in mate value were more often overperceived.
- Limitations include reliance on self reports, no data on the ages of interaction partners, the Norwegian cultural context, and use of chronological rather than biological maturity.