The Belief in Female Sexual Deceptiveness (BFSD) scale is a 14-item measure that captures men's belief in women's sexual deceptiveness, which has been postulated as a component of hostile masculinity and a precursor to more serious sexual-assault-facilitating cognitions. The shortened, 8-item version of the measure can be found here.
Geographies Tested: United States of America
Populations Included: Male
Age Range: Adults
1. Women “guilt” men into taking their side or giving them what they want
2. Women “play the victim” to get what they want from men
3. A woman might make up a story so she can end a date early, if she is not enjoying herself
4. Women enjoy toying with men’s feelings
5. Women are capable of crying to get what they want from men
6. Women often use half-truths to keep men “at arm’s length”
7. When a woman dances suggestively with a man, it is because she wants to feel desirable, not because she is interested in the man
8. Women in committed relationships keep in contact with male friends to keep their options open, in case the relationship goes wrong
9. Women only show interest in men when they want something from them
10. Women flirt with many men at the same time, in order to start fight
11. Women’s relationships with men are mostly about competing with other women
12. Women marry wealthy husbands, but cheat with younger, better-looking men
13. Women criticize men who are interested in them, to hide their own insecurities
14. Women date men simply for the material benefits they can get
Response Options
Never - 0
Very rarely - 1
Only sometimes - 2
About half the time - 3
More often than not - 4
Very often - 5
Almost always - 6
8 items are reverse scored
The scale is scored as the mean of all the item scores.
Rogers, D. L., Cervantes, E., & Espinosa, J. C. (2015). Development and validation of the belief in Female Sexual Deceptiveness scale. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30(5), 744-761. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260514536282
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