Is Gaydar Affected by Attitudes Towards Homosexuality? Confidence, Labelling Bias, and Accuracy

Abstract

Previous research has largely ignored the relationship between sexual orientation judgement accuracy, confidence, and attitudes towards homosexuality. In an online study, participants (N = 269) judged the sexual orientation of homosexual and heterosexual targets presented via a series of facial photographs. Participants also indicated their confidence in each judgement and completed the Modern Homonegativity Scale (Morrison & Morrison, 2002). We found that (i) homosexual men and heterosexual women were more accurate when judging photographs of women, as opposed to photographs of men, and (ii) in heterosexual men, negative attitudes towards homosexual men predicted confidence and bias when rating men’s photographs. Findings indicate that homosexual men and heterosexual women are similar in terms of accuracy in judging women’s sexuality. Further, especially in men, homophobia is associated with cognitive biases in labelling other men, but does not have a relationship with increased accuracy.