Policy capturing methodology in sexuality research

Many research questions in sexuality involve assessing the stimuli that influence peoples' decisions and judgments. Typically, such research relies on self‐reports of these influences, although it appears that humans have little or no insight into their own mental processes. Policy capturing is a more direct method for quantifying the factors influencing respondents' judgments, and this approach allows for assessment of the degree to which individuals have insight into their own cognitive policies. In this article, policy capturing methodology is reviewed, a recent application of the methodology is summarized as an illustration of the method as it may be used in sexuality research, and the strengths and weaknesses of the approach are discussed.