Gaydar broken? Let scientific research fix it for you

Gaydar broken? Let scientific research fix it for you

gayfaces

A new study that has come from researchers at the Centre for Theoretical Study at Charles University in Prague have released findings from a study that suggests that there are distinguishable differences in the facial structures of homosexual men and their heterosexual brothers. Interestingly, the data indicated that the faces of gay men were consistently ranked as more masculine than those of straight men.

The studies aim was to determine if structural differences in a mans face and determine his sexual orientation. Two studies were conducted, study one used geometric morphometrics to test for differences in facial shape between homosexual and heterosexual men. The research found that ‘homosexual men generally had wider and shorter faces, smaller and shorter noses, and rather massive and more rounded jaws, resulting in a mosaic of both feminine and masculine features’.

Study two tested the accuracy of sexual orientation judgment from standardised facial photos, which were then assessed by 80 independent students both male and female to rate the pictures from one to seven, with one indicating a very straight look and seven indicating a very gay look. The students were also asked to rank masculinity and femininity from one to seven, with one indicting very masculine and seven indicating very feminine.

As a result, the face shapes of gay men were rated as more masculine than those of straight men. In addition, raters were not able to correctly determine sexual orientation from the pictures. “Thus, our results showed that differences in facial morphology of homosexual and heterosexual men do not simply mirror variation in femininity, and the stereotypic association of feminine looking men as homosexual may confound judgments of sexual orientation.” the research authors concluded.

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