Abstract
In a paradigm that asked participants to rate the sexual attractiveness of male and female swimsuit models, Lippa, Patterson,
and Marelich (2010) showed that heterosexual men’s category specificity exceeded heterosexual women’s in two ways: (1) Heterosexual men showed
much larger differences in their attraction and viewing times to male versus female photo models than heterosexual women,
and (2) heterosexual men’s attractions to female but not male models increased with model attractiveness whereas heterosexual
women’s attractions to both sexes increased with model attractiveness. The current study used the same paradigm to study category
specificity in homosexual and heterosexual participants. In addition to replicating previous findings for heterosexual men
and women, the results showed that homosexual men were high on category specificity, like heterosexual men, whereas lesbians
showed lower levels of category specificity than men, but sometimes higher levels than heterosexual women.
and Marelich (2010) showed that heterosexual men’s category specificity exceeded heterosexual women’s in two ways: (1) Heterosexual men showed
much larger differences in their attraction and viewing times to male versus female photo models than heterosexual women,
and (2) heterosexual men’s attractions to female but not male models increased with model attractiveness whereas heterosexual
women’s attractions to both sexes increased with model attractiveness. The current study used the same paradigm to study category
specificity in homosexual and heterosexual participants. In addition to replicating previous findings for heterosexual men
and women, the results showed that homosexual men were high on category specificity, like heterosexual men, whereas lesbians
showed lower levels of category specificity than men, but sometimes higher levels than heterosexual women.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Paper
- Pages 1-12
- DOI 10.1007/s10508-011-9898-y
- Authors
- Richard A. Lippa, Department of Psychology, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92834, USA
- Journal Archives of Sexual Behavior
- Online ISSN 1573-2800
- Print ISSN 0004-0002