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Post-Movie Subliminal Measurement (PMSM), for Investigating Implicit Social Bias

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Sexual orientation perception involves gendered facial cues.

Jonathan B Freeman¹, Kerri L Johnson, Nalini Ambady

¹Tufts University, Psychology Department, 490 Boston Ave., Medford, MA 02155, USA. jon.freeman@tufts.edu

Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin

|August 5, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

People accurately judge sexual orientation from faces by using gendered cues. Stereotypes about gender inversion influence these judgments, leading to accurate perceptions but errors when faces counter stereotypes.

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Area of Science:

Social Psychology
Perception Science
Human Sexuality Studies

Background:

Accurate sexual orientation judgments from faces are possible, yet underlying perceptual mechanisms are not fully understood.
Cultural stereotypes portray gay and lesbian individuals as gender "inverts," a notion present for over 150 years.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if perceivers use gendered facial cues to infer sexual orientation.
To examine the influence of gender inversion stereotypes on sexual orientation judgment accuracy.

Main Methods:

Utilized computer-generated faces with manipulated shape and texture dimensions to assess gender inversion.
Analyzed real faces for gender inversion and its correlation with perceived sexual orientation.
Examined how stereotypic cue usage impacts the accuracy of sexual orientation judgments.

Main Results:

Increased gender inversion in facial shape and texture led to higher likelihood of being judged as gay or lesbian.
Real faces exhibiting greater gender inversion were more frequently identified as gay or lesbian.
Stereotypic use of gendered cues improved overall sexual orientation judgment accuracy, but caused errors for stereotype-nonconforming targets.

Conclusions:

Perceivers rely on gendered facial cues to infer sexual orientation.
The use of these cues influences both the accuracy and potential errors in sexual orientation judgments.
Findings highlight the role of stereotypes in facial perception and social cognition.