Swagger, sway, and sexuality: Judging sexual orientation from body motion and morphology.

TLDR

People can accurately judge others’ sexual orientation, yet the specific cues used remain unclear. The authors examined how body shape and motion influence perceived sexual orientation across three studies. They employed computer‑generated animations and real dynamic outlines, manipulating body shape and motion to assess orientation judgments. Gender‑typical shape–motion combinations were judged heterosexual, gender‑atypical combinations homosexual, with stronger effects for men; body shape affected judgments of women, motion affected both sexes, and gender‑atypical motion also improved accuracy, findings replicated and extended in a third study.

Abstract

People can accurately judge the sexual orientation of others, but the cues they use have remained elusive. In 3 studies, the authors examined how body shape and motion affect perceived sexual orientation. In 2 studies, participants judged the sexual orientation of computer-generated animations in which body shape and motion were manipulated. Gender-typical combinations (e.g., tubular body moving with shoulder swagger or hourglass body moving with hip sway) were perceived generally to be heterosexual; gender-atypical combinations were perceived generally to be homosexual. These effects were stronger for male targets. Body shape affected perceived sexual orientation of women, but motion affected perceived sexual orientation of both men and women. Study 3 replicated and extended these findings. Participants judged dynamic outlines of real people (men and women, both gay and straight) in which body shape and motion were measured. Again, gender-atypical body motion affected perceived sexual orientation and, importantly, affected accuracy as well.