Female sexual orientation and menstrual influences on person perception

Fertility Status Does Not Facilitate Women's Judgment of Male Sexual Orientation

Previous research has demonstrated that women can correctly distinguish between gay and heterosexual men's faces significantly better than chance. This ability appears to be heightened during the most fertile portion of their ovulatory cycle. Here, we sought to replicate and extend these findings in a large sample of undergraduate women (N = 1960). Although women correctly identified men's sexual orientation significantly better than chance (62% average accuracy), a subsample of naturally cycling women (n = 426) did not judge men's sexual orientation from faces more accurately when in the fertile phase of their ovulatory cycle. These results further replicate the visibility of male sexual orientation, but do not show that this ability has strong links to estimated fertility.

Menstrual Cycle Changes in Daily Sexual Motivation and Behavior Among Sexually Diverse Cisgender Women

We used a one-month daily diary assessment to measure menstrual cycle-related changes in same-gender and other-gender sexual motivation and behavior in 148 cisgender women (32% lesbian-identified, 35% bisexually identified, and 33% heterosexual-identified). Women with exclusive same-gender orientations reported increased motivation for same-gender sexual contact during the higher-fertility phase of the cycle, but women with exclusive other-gender orientations did not show a parallel increase in other-gender sexual motivation during the higher-fertility phase. Bisexually attracted women showed no phase-related changes in same-gender or other-gender sexual motivation, regardless of whether they generally preferred one gender versus the other. Rates of partnered sexual contact did not increase during the higher-fertility phase. During the 14 midcycle days during which we assayed salivary estrogen and testosterone, we found no significant associations between daily hormones and sexual motivation. However, daily estrogen levels were positively related to sexual behavior among women currently partnered with women, and negatively related to sexual behavior among women currently partnered with men. Our results suggest that traditional evolutionary models of menstrual cycle-related changes in sexual motivation do not adequately reflect the full range of cycle-related changes observed among sexually diverse women.

Dynamic interactive theory as a domain-general account of social perception

The perception of social categories, emotions, and personality traits from others' faces each have been studied extensively but in relative isolation. We synthesize emerging findings suggesting that, in each of these domains of social perception, both a variety of bottom-up facial features and top-down social cognitive processes play a part in driving initial perceptions. Among such top-down processes, social-conceptual knowledge in particular can have a fundamental structuring role in how we perceive others' faces. Extending the Dynamic Interactive framework (Freeman & Ambady, 2011), we outline a perspective whereby the perception of social categories, emotions, and traits from faces can all be conceived as emerging from an integrated system relying on domain-general cognitive properties. Such an account of social perception would envision perceptions to be a rapid, but gradual, process of negotiation between the variety of visual cues inherent to a person and the social cognitive knowledge an individual perceiver brings to the perceptual process. We describe growing evidence in support of this perspective as well as its theoretical implications for social psychology.

Ovulatory Shifts in Sexual Desire But Not Mate Preferences: An LH-Test-Confirmed, Longitudinal Study

The presented data are part of a longitudinal within-subject study designed to examine ovulatory shifts in human sexuality in a diverse German sample using validated questionnaires. The final sample consists of 78 individuals (76 female, 2 agender) who declared to be mainly or exclusively attracted to males. Questionnaires were completed anonymously online at three cycle phases. Following the gold standard, the fertile window was calculated through the reverse cycle day method and confirmed via urinary tests detecting luteinizing hormone. The questionnaire included the Sexual Desire Inventory, Dresdner Body Image Inventory, the Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory, and an adjective list to measure mate preferences. One hundred eighty-four questionnaires were included in the data analysis using linear mixed models. Findings support previous research reporting heightened sexual desire and an improved body image during the fertile window. No shifts were found for mate preference or sociosexual orientation, thus adding to a growing body of literature contesting parts of the ovulatory shift hypothesis.

Participant sexual orientation matters: new evidence on the gender bias in face recognition

Research participants' sexual orientation is not consistently taken into account in experimental psychological research. We argue that it should be in any research related to participant or target gender. Corroborating this argument, an example study is presented on the gender bias in face recognition, the finding that women correctly recognize more female than male faces. In contrast, findings with male participants have been inconclusive. An online experiment (N = 1,147) was carried out, on purpose over-sampling lesbian and gay participants. Findings demonstrate that the pro-female gender bias in face recognition is modified by male participants' sexual orientation. Heterosexual women and lesbians as well as heterosexual men showed a pro-female gender bias in face recognition, whereas gay men showed a pro-male gender bias, consistent with the explanation that differences in face expertise develop congruent with interests. These results contribute to the growing evidence that participant sexual orientation can be used to distinguish between alternative theoretical explanations of given gender-correlated patterns of findings.

Detection of sexual orientation ("gaydar") by homosexual and heterosexual women

Although there has been considerable research investigating the ability to identify sexual orientation from static images, or "gaydar," few studies have considered the role of female sexual orientation or sexual interest (for example, sociosexual orientation) in judgment accuracy. In two studies, we investigated the sexuality detection ability, and masculinity and femininity as cues used in judgment. In Study 1, we recruited heterosexual (N = 55) and homosexual (N = 71) women to rate the sexual orientation of homosexual and heterosexual male and female targets (N = 80: 20 heterosexual men, 20 homosexual men, 20 heterosexual women, and 20 homosexual women). We found that detection accuracy was better than chance levels for both male and female targets and that male targets were more likely to be falsely labeled as homosexual than female targets were. Overall, female faces were more accurately identified as heterosexual or homosexual than male faces and homosexual female raters were biased towards labeling targets as homosexual. Sociosexuality did not influence the accuracy with which targets were identified as heterosexual or homosexual. In Study 2, 100 heterosexual and 20 homosexual women rated the stimulus for masculinity and femininity. Heterosexual women were rated as more feminine and less masculine than homosexual women and homosexual men were rated as more feminine and less masculine than heterosexual men. Sexual orientation of the judges did not affect the ratings. The results were discussed with a reference to evolutionary and cultural influences affecting sexual orientation judgment accuracy.

Comparing group dehumanization and intra-sexual competition among normally ovulating women and hormonal contraceptive users

Two studies address the role of hormonal shift across menstrual cycle in female dehumanization of other women. In Study 1, normally ovulating women (NOW) and women who use hormonal contraceptives (HCW) are compared in terms of how much they dehumanize other women and two other control targets (men and elderly people). In NOW, the level of dehumanization of other women, but not of men and elderly people, increases as the conception risk is enhanced. HCW do not show this pattern of results. In Study 2, we investigate the level of dehumanization of other women and of intra-sexual competition. Findings concerning dehumanization replicate those of Study 1. Intra-sexual competition increases with the rise of conception risk only in NOW. In addition, dehumanization is significantly associated with intra-sexual competition in NOW but not in HCW. Together, these studies demonstrate that dehumanization of women is elicited by menstrual cycle-related processes and associated with women's mate-attraction goals.

Mating Interest Improves Women’s Accuracy in Judging Male Sexual Orientation

People can accurately infer others’ traits and group memberships across several domains. We examined heterosexual women’s accuracy in judging male sexual orientation across the fertility cycle (Study 1) and found that women’s accuracy was significantly greater the nearer they were to peak ovulation. In contrast, women’s accuracy was not related to their fertility when they judged the sexual orientations of other women (Study 2). Increased sexual interest brought about by the increased likelihood of conception near ovulation may therefore influence women’s sensitivity to male sexual orientation. To test this hypothesis, we manipulated women’s interest in mating using an unobtrusive priming task (Study 3). Women primed with romantic thoughts showed significantly greater accuracy in their categorizations of male sexual orientation (but not female sexual orientation) compared with women who were not primed. The accuracy of judgments of male sexual orientation therefore appears to be influenced by both natural variations in female perceivers’ fertility and experimentally manipulated cognitive frames.