How women's sexual orientation guides accuracy of interpersonal judgements of other women

Abstract

This research examines how women's sexual orientation guides the accuracy of judgements of other women. One hundred ten judges (67 straight and 43 lesbian women) watched videotapes of 9 targets (4 straight and 5 lesbian) and made judgements about the targets' thoughts, emotions, personality, and sexual orientation. Accuracy scores were created for each judge by comparing judgements to criterion data gathered about targets. Straight judges were significantly more accurate at judging thoughts and marginally more accurate at judging emotions compared to lesbian judges. There were no significant differences in judging personality. Straight targets' thoughts and personality were more easily assessed than lesbian targets' while lesbians' emotions were more easily judged than straight targets'. Lesbian judges were more accurate at judging sexual orientation regardless of their tendency to categorize women as lesbian compared to straight judges. Findings support past research on the accurate perception of sexual orientation and contribute to understanding how sexual orientation guides person perception.

Keywords:

• Sexual orientation
• Interpersonal accuracy
• Empathic accuracy
• Emotion recognition
• Personality judgement

Many factors contribute to the ability to perceive others accurately. The purpose of this research was to examine sexual orientation as one of those factors. We examined the effect of women's sexual orientation on accuracy in perceiving lesbian and straight women's thoughts, emotions, personality, and sexual orientation.

Many factors contribute to the ability to perceive others accurately. The purpose of this research was to examine sexual orientation as one of those factors. We examined the effect of women's sexual orientation on accuracy in perceiving lesbian and straight women's thoughts, emotions, personality, and sexual orientation.

Notes

¹ The formula for A″ was taken from Rae (1976):

when Hits ≥ False Alarms

when Hits < False Alarms The formula for B″_D was taken from Donaldson (1992):