| Abstract | Two autobiographical memory studies were conducted to understand better the social experience and memory for watching romantic movies on a date. In both studies, participants were primarily middle-class, White, young adults, who: (1) recalled the experience of watching a romantic movie they had seen on a date; and (2) were assessed for levels of sex-role traditionality and four kinds of dispositional empathy. Participants also reported with whom they watched the movie, who chose it, and the cognitions and emotions experienced during viewing. Finally, a fantasy measure asked participants to choose the types of scenes in which they and their dates might like to 'stand in' for a character in the film. Results indicated that women more often than men selected the movie and liked it more, but, despite common stereotypes, men also reported favorable ratings for romantic movies seen on a date. However, both men and women though that 'most men' would not like the movie. On the fantasy measure, women underestimated men's preference for appearing in scenes of romance. For multiple measures, participants fell back on gender stereotyping when estimating what people in general, especially men, would like. Study two replicated Study one (N = 265) with a sample of 45 dating couples. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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