AUTHOR=Colzato Lorenza S., Van Hooidonk Linda , Van Den Wildenberg Wery , Harinck Fieke , Hommel Bernhard TITLE=Sexual orientation biases attentional control: a possible gaydar mechanism JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=1 YEAR=2010 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00013 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00013 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=

Homosexuals are believed to have a “sixth sense” for recognizing each other, an ability referred to as gaydar. We considered that being a homosexual might rely on systematic practice of processing relatively specific, local perceptual features, which might lead to a corresponding chronic bias of attentional control. This was tested by comparing male and female homosexuals and heterosexuals – brought up in the same country and culture and matched in terms of race, intelligence, sex, mood, age, personality, religious background, educational style, and socio-economic situation – in their efficiency to process global and local features of hierarchically-constructed visual stimuli. Both homosexuals and heterosexuals showed better performance on global features – the standard global precedence effect. However, this effect was significantly reduced in homosexuals, suggesting a relative preference for detail. Findings are taken to demonstrate chronic, generalized biases in attentional control parameters that reflect the selective reward provided by the respective sexual orientation.