Belief in Gender Role Stereotypes Moderates the Use of Gender Typicality Cues when Making Sexual Orientation Judgements from Faces

Abstract

People use cues of facial gender typicality when making sexual orientation judgements, where gender typical faces (masculine men and feminine women) are more likely to be judged as heterosexual and gender atypical faces (feminine men and masculine women) are judged as non-heterosexual. Individual differences in the belief of associated stereotypes have been shown to influence how these stereotypes are used to make social judgments of others; therefore, across two studies, we tested whether the strength of beliefs in gender stereotypes impacted how facial gender typicality cues were used when making sexual orientation judgements. In both Study 1 and 2 (n = 283 and 219, respectively), participants made sexual orientation judgements of 80 faces (40 male, 40 female) that varied in gender typicality and completed a measure of belief in gender stereotypes. In Study 2, participants also completed a sexual prejudice measure. In line with predictions, both studies found that the strength in belief of gender stereotypes significantly moderated the use of facial gender typicality cues when making sexual orientation judgements. Participants with a greater belief in gender stereotypes were more likely to judge a face as heterosexual as gender typicality increased. In Study 2, the association between sexual prejudice and use of gender typicality cues was fully mediated by beliefs in gender role stereotypes. These results highlight the importance of considering individual differences of the perceiver and how they can interact with cues from a target, particularly when making sexual orientation judgements.