A failure of the interocular suppression paradigm to assess sexual preferences in two studies.

Abstract

Several methods have been developed to assess sexual preferences in men and women. Direct instruments (e.g., plethysmography, questionnaires) are the most widely used, but they have notable shortcomings, including a lack of response specificity in certain groups and a risk of false responding. Indirect instruments (e.g., reaction time), where preferences are assessed unobtrusively, may overcome these limitations and could therefore be used to measure sexual preferences more effectively. One promising instrument, published by Jiang et al. (2006), used an ocular suppression paradigm that exposed participants to sexual images while simultaneously masking them from conscious perception. Jiang et al. (2006) found that these "invisible" images attracted visual attention when they matched the participants' sexual preferences for nude male or female images and, in the case of heterosexual men, repelled attention when they did not match the participants' preferences. Here, we attempt to replicate these findings over two studies. In the first experiment, using a stereoscopic apparatus with 22 men and 25 women and a validation test (time spent rating the same nude images), we found no attentional attraction to or repulsion of invisible images even though the rating times for the same images were related to participants' sexual orientation. In the second experiment, with 32 men, we replaced the stereoscopic apparatus with a virtual reality headset, offering better control over stimulus delivery. Again, the invisible images produced no attentional attraction or repulsion. Our results suggest that the interocular suppression paradigm is not an effective method for assessing sexual preferences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).