An Eye for Sexual Orientation

Science Magazine ^ | 1/18/2008 | Matt Kaplan

[mngran2]

Talk about "gaydar." In just a fraction of a second, people can accurately judge the sexual orientation of other individuals by glancing at their faces, according to new research. The finding builds on the growing theory that the subconscious mind detects and probably guides much more of human behavior than is realized. Humans are remarkably good at making snap judgments about others. In a hallmark study conducted by psychologists Nalini Ambady and Robert Rosenthal in 1994, people shown 2-second video clips of professors teaching formed opinions about the professors' teaching abilities that were uncannily similar to evaluations written by students at the end of a semester. The results led psychologists to begin questioning what else people might detect in a glance.

Ambady and colleague Nicholas Rule, both at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, wondered about sexual orientation. They showed men and women photos of 90 faces belonging to homosexual men and heterosexual men for intervals ranging from 33 milliseconds to 10 seconds. When given 100 milliseconds or more to view a face, participants correctly identified sexual orientation nearly 70% of the time. Volunteers were less accurate at shorter durations, and their accuracy did not get better at durations beyond 100 milliseconds, the team reports in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. "What is most interesting is that increased exposure time did not improve the results," says Ambady.

Romantic attraction likely works just as fast, notes psychologist Paul Eastwick of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. "If people make accurate judgments about sexually relevant aspects of a person this quickly," he says, "you have to stop and wonder how we size up one another's romantic potential in a matter of milliseconds."

Psychologist David Kenny of the University of Connecticut, Storrs, says the finding demonstrates the brain's remarkable ability to make fast yet accurate appraisals. Still, he notes that with some of the images, accuracy regularly fell below 50%. It's possible that some faces are just hard to read.

[valkyrieanne]

I want to play it and test my own!

[wastedyears]

Gotta love those two false teeth.

[wastedyears]

If I were to become a flight attendant, being a short straight male, I’d have a tough time trying to restrain a passenger, but in my layover time I’d probably look for public ranges.

[informavoracious]

interesting point. i went to school with a girl whose eyebrows slanted downward, giving her a ‘sad’ appearance. People were constantly asking why she was so sad. At what point does the constant external reinforcement of confusing what you look like with who you are become internalized? Or doesn’t it?

[racing fan]

interesting point. i went to school with a girl whose eyebrows slanted downward, giving her a ‘sad’ appearance. People were constantly asking why she was so sad. At what point does the constant external reinforcement of confusing what you look like with who you are become internalized? Or doesn’t it?

---

I think it would become internalized after awhile. What do I know?

[Tired of Taxes]

At what point does the constant external reinforcement of confusing what you look like with who you are become internalized? Or doesn’t it?

I still believe that old Freud concept that we do internalize what others perceive us to be, even though his ideas are seen as outdated now.

[Tired of Taxes]

They might not be accurate especially if other people say that a particular looks like whatever. Could this be a stereotype?

I think so. And, to a certain extent, people probably wear whatever stereotype they fit.

[massgopguy]

I saw a Judas Priest video yesterday and said to my friend; “How did we miss that in 1984”?

[Tired of Taxes]

LOL. I know, I know. And don’t forget Freddie Mercury and Elton John. No one knew. The news was a surprise. The outfits with the feathers and the sequins were screaming it at us, and we were so clueless.

[T-Bird45]

I would classify the results of the study as further evidence of human survival instinct that developed from earliest man having to make friend or foe choices on first meeting other human groups. The choice is similar today: does that guy play on my team or not?

[Inspectorette]

i went to school with a girl whose eyebrows slanted downward, giving her a ‘sad’ appearance.

Eyebrow shape does contribute a lot to facial expression. The one that comes to mind for me is Brian Williams, NBC-TV news anchor: "He's got the worried eyebrows".