Gaydar (a portmanteau of gay and radar) is a colloquialism referring to the intuitive ability of a person to assess others' sexual orientations as homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual. Gaydar relies almost exclusively on non-verbal clues and LGBT stereotypes. These include (but are not limited to) the sensitivity to social behaviors and mannerisms; for instance, acknowledging flamboyant body language, overtly rejecting traditional gender roles, a person's occupation and grooming habits.
The detection of sexual orientation by outward appearance or behavior is frequently challenged by situations with gay men who do not act in a stereotypically "gay" fashion, or with metrosexual men (regardless of sexuality) who exhibit a lifestyle, spending habits, and concern for personal appearance stereotypical of fashionable urban gays.[1][2][3][4]
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William Lee Adams replicated earlier work by his advisor, Nalini Ambady (now at Tufts University). Ambady's original study, published in 1999, showed that homosexuals were better at correctly identifying sexual orientation from silent videos and photographs than heterosexuals were. Adams' research, started in 2004, focused exclusively on the face; a focal point of social cues in humans.[5][6][7] These observations were enhanced by Ron Smyth and colleagues in 2003.[8] A 2007 study under Ambady found that test subjects could correctly identify gays with better than random accuracy when shown a photo of only the eye. In fact, accuracy was closer to what participants expected their accuracy should be when hairstyle was also included in the image.[9] A 2009 study found that determination of female sexual orientation by similar means was more accurate when a "snap" judgment was made, rather than conscious deliberation.[10][11]
One of the first experiments, according to Malcolm Gladwell, in which an observer could detect homosexuality just by looking at the faces of men, involved Silvan Tomkins.[12]
Researchers at Leiden University and Leiden Institute of Brain and Cognition, led by Lorenza Colzato, provide indications on the existence of a gaydar mechanism.[13] By comparing homosexuals and heterosexuals with a series of visual stimuli, homosexuals have shown a significant preference for detail with respect to heterosexuals, indicating that being homosexual is associated with a more analytic perceptual style. Adopting such a perceptual style increases the likelihood to detect perceptual cues indicative of homosexual orientation, which again facilitates finding like-minded, social peers, and potential friends and sex mates. Homosexuals are apparently better trained in making use of the subtle, but distinctive features that they tend to share, including body-movement, gesturing style, and speech patterns. Their attentional control is faster and more efficiently tuned to pick up visual cues correlated with sexual orientation.[13][14]