Trump’s trial resurfaced his views on sexual attraction, and experts have pondered it

Donald Trump’s hush money trial has once again brought to light some of the former president’s views on sexual attraction — and they’re simply not accurate, sex experts say.

Trump faces 34 criminal charges related to $130,000 in hush money payments to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen he said Made with adult film star Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election to prevent her from speaking publicly about her alleged 2006 extramarital affair. Prosecutors allege Trump falsified business records to conceal the refunds to Cohen. The former president has denied all allegations.

On Tuesday, the prosecution asked witness Sally Franklin, a publishing executive at Penguin Random House, to read excerpts from some of Trump’s books, including this quote from his 2004 book “Trump: How to Get Rich”:

All the women on “The Apprentice” flirted with me – consciously or unconsciously. That is to be expected. A sexual dynamic is always present between people unless you are asexual.

Since the book was published 20 years ago, it is conceivable that the author’s views have changed over time. But since the quote resurfaced as part of the trial this week, we asked sex experts for their opinion.

Laurie Mintz is a psychologist, sex therapist, and professor emeritus at the University of Florida who teaches a course on the psychology of human sexuality. She told HuffPost that Trump’s claim that “there is always a sexual dynamic between people” is false – and that there is scientific evidence to back it up. She pointed to a body of research about what attracts us to other people, and the reasons for this are “quite complex,” she said.

“In short, we know from this research that attraction is a ‘biopsychosocial’ event—that is, our biology, our psychology, and our cultural norms all influence it,” Mintz explained.

She referred to sex researcher Justin Lehmiller’s textbook “The Psychology of Human Sexuality,” which she uses in her classes. In it, he discusses some of the variables that affect sexual attraction, including mood and level of physiological arousal during the interaction, the other person’s physical attractiveness, their geographical proximity, how similar they are to you, and the concentration of neurotransmitters like dopamine and oxytocin. just to name a few.

Clinical sexologist and sex educator Lawrence Siegel emphasized that sexual attraction is influenced by situational and environmental factors such as familiarity and timing.

“For example, individuals may be more attracted to someone they encounter frequently or during times of heightened arousal, such as social events, frightening situations, or romantic encounters,” he told HuffPost.

In other words, “It’s much more complex than just being attracted to everyone all the time,” Mintz said.

“Given the many factors that influence our attraction to another person, it sometimes happens that what people say they are looking for in a potential partner does not match the type of person they ultimately choose.” says Lehmiller, the sex researcher. wrote in a blog post on his website.

“This makes sense because when we fill out surveys about what we’re attracted to in a calm, cool and collected state, we can’t take into account how factors like our physiological arousal, our mood, or the time of day might influence how we feel about a particular thing person think,” he wrote.

“Even when attraction is present, we are able to put those feelings aside when the situation calls for it,” Siegel said.

“First, there may be an initial attraction that you feel toward another person when you meet them,” Siegel said. “But anyone who has a modicum of self-awareness and impulse control won’t act on them when it’s not appropriate.”

Trump’s quote also suggests that while flirting is always a sign of sexual interest or attraction, there are many other reasons why people flirt. According to Psychology Today, it could be as simple as having fun and being playful, encouraging another person to do something for you, boosting your self-esteem, finding out if someone is interested in you, or developing a romantic relationship with yourself connect with someone. People who identify as asexual may still flirt with others even if they don’t experience sexual attraction.

“Research shows that those who were flirted with accurately perceived that the other person was interested only 28 percent of the time,” wrote psychology professor and relationship expert Gary W. Lewandowski in a blog post for Psychology Today. “In other words: around three quarters of all flirting attempts go undetected. Women were particularly poor at accurately identifying male flirting (18 percent).”

Siegel doubts that Trump himself even believes what he writes in his book.

“It’s really about his narcissistic belief that everyone is attracted to him and wants to have sex with him,” he said.