If you’re not familiar with the term it basically refers to their ability to tell whether someone is gay or straight based on what they look like.
Most people don’t take it that seriously but researchers at a university in the United States have decided to determine whether it exists once and for all.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have published an article in the Journal of Sex Research that not only proves it isn’t accurate but confirms it is a harmful type of stereotyping.
‘Most people think of stereotyping as inappropriate,’ said William Cox, an assistant scientist in the psychology department and the lead author.
They also proved it negatively reinforces LGB stereotypes (Picture: Shutterstock)
‘But if you’re not calling it “stereotyping” if you’re giving it this other label and camouflaging it as “gaydar” it appears to be more socially and personally acceptable.’
The study saw researchers tell some participants that ‘gaydar’ exists, others that it is a way of stereotyping and not mention it to a third.
The groups were then asked to judge whether men were gay or straight based on their social media profiles.
Some of the subjects’ likes referred to gay stereotypes – such as fashion or shopping – while others looked at male stereotypes such as sports or hunting.
The experiment found that people who were told gaydar was real tended to stereotype more than the control group.
The study found that people who were told gaydar exists tended to stereotype more (Picture: Shutterstock)
Conversely, those that were told it was another way of stereotyping tended to stereotype much less.
In another part of the experiment, the researchers debunked a previous study which suggested a ‘gaydar’ does exist.
In that study, participants were asked to judge whether people were straight or gay based on pictures of a a pool of men, half of whom were gay.
On that occasion, 60% of the answers were right, leading researchers to claim it “as evidence that gaydar exists”.
However, Mr Cox disagreed saying that 60% accuracy means that 40% of guesses were incorrect.
And those that were told it was a stereotype tended to stereotype less (Picture: Shutterstock)
Taking into account that only 3 to 8% of the population is LGB, this means that nearly 93% of guesses for gay people would be incorrect in real-life scenarios.
Mr Cox said he hopes his research counteracts the gaydar myth and exposes it as something more harmful than most people realise.
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