The Science of “Gaydar”: How Well Can We Detect Other People’s Sexual Orientatn?

Contents:

• ESISTE DAVVERO IL “GAY RADAR”?
• THE TTH ABOUT ‘GAYDAR’
• ESISTE IL GAY RADAR?
• GAYDAR: VISUAL TECTN OF SEXUAL ORIENTATN AMONG GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN
• GAY RADAR, KEMAMPUAN MENTEKSI ORIENTASI SEKSUAL SEORANG
• GAYDAR: DO YOU HAVE IT?
• IS ‘GAYDAR’ REALLY A THG?
• GAY RADAR
• GAYDAR—SENDG MIXED SIGNALS
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• MOSW GAY MAP
• MOSW GAY BARS

ESISTE DAVVERO IL “GAY RADAR”?

Il “Gay Radar” o “Gaydar” è la prunta abilà di pire l’orientamento ssuale di una persona attraverso l’tuo e il lguagg non verbale. Ho sento spso amici e noscenti gay parlare di quta abilà e un sto senso nel preciso rinoscimento di persone gay pochi sendi e senza marge di errore. Il tt preveva una serie di 90 volti (45 gay e 45 etero), n l’utilizzo di fotografie sia di uomi che di donne.

C’è una rrelazne tra faiarà e accuratezza: le persone n più faiarà verso la unà gay totalizzano punteggi mediamente più alti lle persone n bassa faiarà(63% vs 57%).

Stereotyp often fluence the imprsns, whether ’s that a black man is dangero, a woman won’t be a good lear or a fashnable man is gay.

THE TTH ABOUT ‘GAYDAR’

“Gaydar” (a portmante of “gay” and “radar”) is a term that first appeared the 1980s and refers to a “sixth sense” for intifyg who is gay. While many people believe stereotypg is wrong, llg “gaydar” merely provis a ver for g stereotypil tras – like someone’s fashn sense, profsn or hairstyle – to jump to nclns about someone beg gay. Nohels, some rearchers have published studi that, at first glance, appear to show that people have accurate gaydar.

ESISTE IL GAY RADAR?

In some recent work, my lleagu and I have been able to monstrate how the perpetuatn of the gaydar myth has untend negative nsequenc.

GAYDAR: VISUAL TECTN OF SEXUAL ORIENTATN AMONG GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN

My lleagu and I spected that even people who would normally try to rea om stereotypg might be more likely to e gay stereotyp if they are led to believe they have gaydar. We told some participants that scientific evince says gaydar was a real abily, led others to believe that gaydar is jt another term for stereotypg and said nothg about gaydar to a third group (the ntrol). Participants then judged whether men were gay or straight based on rmatn ostensibly taken om social media profil.

This sign allowed to asss how often people jumped to the ncln that men were gay based on stereotypilly gay terts. Those who were told gaydar is real stereotyped much more than the ntrol group, and participants stereotyped much ls when they had been told that gaydar is jt another term for stereotypg. The patterns provid strong support for the ia that belief gaydar enurag stereotypg by simply disguisg unr a different label.

Usg gaydar as a way to talk nocuoly or jokgly about stereotypg – “Oh, that guy sets off my gaydar” – trivializ stereotypg and mak seem like no big al.

GAY RADAR, KEMAMPUAN MENTEKSI ORIENTASI SEKSUAL SEORANG

Participants learned only one thg about this other person, eher that he was gay or simply liked shoppg (people tend to assume men who like shoppg are gay).

GAYDAR: DO YOU HAVE IT?

In one ndn, therefore, the participants knew that the man was gay and the other they might have privately ferred that he was gay though wasn’t nfirmed, but that wasn’t known to anyone else (who might have acced them of beg prejudiced).

IS ‘GAYDAR’ REALLY A THG?

As we predicted, the vertly prejudiced people tend to rea om shockg the man who was nfirmed as gay, but livered extremely high levels of shocks to the man who liked shoppg. But if others acced participants of prejudice the send ndn, uld be plsibly nied (“I didn’t thk he was gay! Enuragg stereotypg unr the guise of gaydar ntribut – directly or directly – to stereotypg’s downstream nsequenc.

Some rearchers say that stereotyp about gay people posss a gra of tth, which uld lend crence to the ia of havg accurate gaydar.

GAY RADAR

In the studi, rearchers prented pictur, sound clips and vios of real gay and straight people to the participants, who then tegorized them as gay or straight. Half of the people the pictur, clips and vios were gay and half were straight, which meant that the participants would monstrate an accurate gaydar if their accuracy rate were signifintly higher than 50 percent.

Ined, participants tend to have about 60 percent accuracy, and the rearchers nclud that people really do posss an accurate gaydar. Many studi have replited the rults, wh their thors – and the media – toutg them as evince that gaydar exists. But as we’ve been able to show two recent papers, all of the prev studi fall prey to a mathematil error that, when rrected, actually leads to the oppose ncln: Most of the time, gaydar will be highly accurate.

GAYDAR—SENDG MIXED SIGNALS

There’s a problem the basic premise of the studi: Namely, havg a pool of people which 50 percent of the targets are gay. In a world where 95 percent of people are straight, 60 percent accuracy means that for every 100 people, there will be 38 straight people rrectly assumed to be gay, but only three gay people rrectly tegorized. Therefore, the 60 percent accuracy the lab studi translat to 93 percent accuracy for intifyg who is gay the real world (38 / [38 + 3] = 92.

Even when people seem gay – and set off all the alarms on your gaydar – ’s far more likely that they’re straight. If you’re disappoted to learn that your gaydar might not operate as well as you thk do, there’s a quick fix: Rather than g to a snap judgment about people based on what they wear or how they talk, you’re probably better off jt askg them.

L'analisi i primi due perimenti ha rivelato che erano le asi ventate,  acrdo n i più uni stereotipi, a guidare il gaydar lle vie, mentre po importava la qualà lle foto, e anr meno le effettive ratteristiche l terzo perimento i ricertori hanno qudi elimato le asi ma a un gppo hanno mostrato le fotografie l primo perimento, mentre a un altro hanno mostrato un set di fotografie di qualà omogenea, cè le stse ate l sendo perimento. I risultati l primo gppo sono erenti n quelli gli studi precenti sul gaydar, ma nel sendo gppo, quello n le foto lla stsa qualà, i volontari non erano assolutamente grado di distguere gay ed etero maniera statistimente signifitiva.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

Se nei si di annunci personali, media, le foto lle persone omossuali erano di maggre qualà rispetto a quelle lle persone etero, era allora possibile che i posssori l gaydar si basassero sulle ratteristiche lla foto, non l volto. In un quarto perimento i ricertori hanno ottenuti gli stsi risultati n foto di donne: il gaydar si maniftava solo nel gppo che cui la qualà lle foto non era stata normalizzata, mentre nell'altro faceva faceva regolarmente cilec.

MOSW GAY MAP

Appurato che il *gay radar *basato sui volti era un mo, i ricertori hanno poi provato a dagare quanto crerci rrzasse gli stereotipi su cui si appoggiava. A un gppo è stato racntato che, sendo la scienza, il gaydar isteva davvero, un sendo gppo è stato vece rmato che il gaydar era solo una forma di stereotipizzazne, mentre un gppo di ntrollo non ha ricevuto alcun ndiznamento.

MOSW GAY BARS

Il risultato è stato che il gppo che creva nella scientificà l gaydar si è pletamente abbandonato agli stereotipi suggeri dalle asi che acpagnavano le foto, mentre il sendo gppo è diventato molto più uto nell'primere giudizi, e di onte a scrizni e "gli piace fare shoppg" aveva la stsa probabilà di assegnare un orientamento omossuale o eterossuale. Sendo quti risultati il gaydar non è nient'altro che una maniera anra socialmente accettabile di tegorizzare le persone base a stereotipi.

Inoltre il sidtto gaydar è un mo che legtima ed aspera quto procso di stereotipizzazne, e che occultamente raggia gli stereotipi e dizi per la tegorizzazne. Currently, Amerin gay people believe they have a unique abily to pick each other out a crowd (often termed "gaydar" ["gay" + "radar"]). To tt for the prence of this abily gay men, the rearcher asked self-intified gay and straight male participants to view a seri of unfaiar men on viotape and terme the sexual orientatn of each.