Main | Monday, April 08, 2013

Scientists Play "Spot The Bottom"

Researchers at the University of Toronto wanted to know (for some reason) if "naive observers" could look at the faces of gay men and determine whether they were tops or bottoms.  From the abstract:
In Study 1, we found that naïve observers were able to discern men's sexual roles from photos of their faces with accuracy that was significantly greater than chance guessing. Moreover, in Study 2, we determined that the relationship between men's perceived and actual sexual roles was mediated by perceived masculinity. Together, these results suggest that people rely on perceptions of characteristics relevant to stereotypical male-female gender roles and heterosexual relationships to accurately infer sexual roles in same-sex relationships. Thus, same-sex relationships and sexual behavior may be perceptually framed, understood, and possibly structured in ways similar to stereotypes about opposite-sex relationships, suggesting that people may rely on these inferences to form accurate perceptions.
Or maybe some of the more masculine men in the study were not willing to identify themselves publicly as bottoms. Not even for science. 

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