Research Proposal

Analysis of the relationship between ones social

interaction with LGBTs to his/her perception about other
peoples sexual orientation

Submitted by
Anna Bettina H. Andaya
Section X

___________
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements in
HUME 196: Research Methods in Human Ecology to
Prof. Walfredo Rola, 1st Sem.,A.Y. 2012-2013.

Chapter I

Introduction
Nowadays, society has become liberated, and people have become more open to new
ideas and about themselves. As a result, some individuals have come out. These people are
what society labeled as transgenders, or more specifically as gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. The
numbers of these individuals have become so great that many often find themselves engaging in
determining or guessing whether a person is gay/lesbian, bisexual, or straight. For instance, in a
certain Facebook post, it was mentioned that a guy and his friend made up a game wherein they
will say beep whenever they meet someone who is or they think is gay. Making perceptions
about other peoples sexual orientation is a normal activity that human beings engage into;
furthermore, this is based on various factors, and one of these is ones level of interaction with
LGBTs.

Statement of the Problem

In this study, the question: what is the relationship between ones social interaction with
LGBTs to his/her perception about other peoples sexual orientation? will be answered.

Objectives of the Study

This study generally aims to show the relationship between ones social interaction with
LGBTs to his/her perception about other peoples sexual orientation. More specifically, it also
aims to present the indicators that people look into whenever they determine or guess other
peoples sexual orientation as well as the factors that influence their judgments.

Importance of the Study

The significance of this study is that it will contribute to the available knowledge
regarding the way people perceive others sexual orientation. It will help people know and
understand more about themselves as well as those around them. In addition, it will also help
them in being more careful when making judgments about others, most especially those that
pertain to sexual orientation.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The relationship between the level of social interaction with LGBTs and the perception of
other peoples sexual orientation will be studied in this research. The indicators that people
consider in making such judgments will also be undertaken, as well as the factors that influence
those judgments. On the other hand, it will not include the discussion of the formation of
homosexuality, or sexual orientation in general, gender issues, and the like.

Operational Definition of Terms

BisexualThis refers to a man or a woman who is emotionally, romantically, and/or sexually
attracted to both of the biological sexes (American Psychological Association).
Gay RadarIt is the ability of a person to determine or guess other peoples sexual orientation.
HeterosexualThis refers to a person who is emotionally, romantically, and/or sexually attracted
to someone of the opposite sex.
Homosexual This refers to a person who is emotionally, romantically, and/or sexually attracted
to someone of the same sex.

Sexual OrientationIt is the long term pattern of attraction (emotional, romantic, and/or sexual)
towards another person, be it a man and/or a woman (American Psychological
Association).
TransgenderThis refers to people who do not conform to the gender identity, expression,
and/or behaviors associated with their biological sex (American Psychological
Association). This is the general term used for gays and lesbians.

Chapter II

Review of Related Literature

Perception is the way that people respond to the stimuli coming from the world around
them. They receive these stimuli as some kind of information obtained through the use of their
five senses, which are hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch. These information are then sent to
the brain for further processing (Cherry, 2012). From that, perception is said to be a cognitive
process (Goldstein, 2009).
In terms of understanding the social world (i.e. the society and the individuals that
compose it), people often use perception that is of the visual type. This is none other than visual
perception. It is the way that human beings understand their environment and processes various
stimuli that they get through their sense of sight (Websters Online Dictionary). For example, in
observing an individual or a certain social group, researchers focus on the individual or peoples
body language, gestures, and muscular and bodily movements; moreover, these are all observed

through the use of the eyes or by seeing it in person. Aside from this, people also use perception
of the auditory type in knowing more about their environment. Auditory perception is simply the
interpretation of stimuli (i.e. sounds) obtained from the surrounding environment through the
sense of hearing (Berke, 2011). Part of making observations is for researchers to hear and/or take
note of what the individual, or group of people, thinks about his/her world.
Visual and auditory perceptions are greatly involved in determining or guessing other
peoples sexual orientation. This is because of the hints or indicators that manifest a persons
sexual orientation being obtained primarily through these types of perception. In visual
perception, the indicators are observed through the use of ones sight. For instance, facial
features that people often associate with males or females were gotten by means of seeing it. On
the other hand, in auditory perception, the hints are obtained through the sense of hearing. For
instance, voice qualities and pitch that pertains to a certain sexual orientation are observed by
means of hearing it. In both of these cases, once these observations, or stimuli, are obtained, it is
immediately sent to the brain in order to be interpreted. From there, the sexual orientation of the
person can be determined or guessed.
Research about the subject of perception of other peoples sexual orientation is relatively
new. Only a few studies about this area were made so far. By comparing these studies, it is
observed that there is a similarity in the methods used, in that the majority has a presentation of
images to the respondents, and the focus is primarily on the clues found in a persons face.
Such clues include the dilation of the pupils of the eyes (Rieger & Savin-Williams, 2012), region
of the eyes and the brows (Campbell, Benson, Wallace, Doesbergh, & Coleman, 1999; as cited in
Arterberry & Wilson, 2010), and the way the nose and/or chin protrudes (Bruce, Burton, Hanna,
Healey, Mason, Coombes, Fright, & Linney, 1993; as cited in Arterberry & Wilson, 2010). Other

studies focus more on the facial features, in general, as well as the orientation of the image when
it was shown (Cellerino, Borghetti, & Sartucci, 2004; Cloutier & Macrae, 2007; Rule, Ambady,
& Hallett, 2009; Freeman, Johnson, Ambady, & Rule, 2010; Tabak & Zayas, 2012).
In the study conducted by Rieger and Savin-Williams (2012), sexual orientation is said to
be determined by pupil dilation. This was tested by examining the dilation of the pupils of the
respondents as they are presented with two erotic images: one of a males and the other of a
females. It was found that bisexual men exhibit greater dilation in both of the male and female
images presented in comparison to those of gay and straight men. Another finding is that lesbians
have greater pupil dilation when presented with the female erotic image than on the male erotic
image. In addition, straight women, just like the bisexual men, were found to have equal pupil
dilation to both of the images presented. Such was the result on straight women because this
response serves a way of somehow protecting themselves against possible rape by men.
In another study, Tabak and Zayas (2012) contend that facial features are indeed helpful
in determining a persons sexual orientation, but when an individual is presented with an upsidedown image, it expected that the accuracy of guessing the right sexual orientation of the person
in the image is lessened. To test this, they gathered randomly picked respondents of differing
biological sex and sexual orientations. They instructed each of them to guess or determine the
sexual orientation of the person presented in pictures they have shown. From this, it was found
that their hypotheses were indeed true. They found that facial features provide people with
various clues that they must or will try to put together in order to infer about the sexual
orientation of another. When faces shown are upside-down, the accuracy of determining the
sexual orientation decreases, but is still likely to be correct. Another finding is people tend to
have an accurate guess on a womans sexual orientation, while committing false judgments are

more common when guessing mens sexual orientation. This is due to people being exposed to
too much gay stereotypes as presented in the media. There are other studies similar to this one,
but this was the first to make a direct comparison on the accuracy of peoples guesses on sexual
orientations of men versus women (Pappas, 2012).
Aside from facial indicators, people also consider clothing, hair length, and voice pitch in
determining someone elses sexual orientation; however, people, be it a man or a women, may
wear the same type of clothing, have short or long hair, and possess a high or low-pitched voice
(Arterberry & Wilson, 2010). In addition to these, people may also look at a persons behavior
and/or actions. For instance, in a current study about homophobes, or people who show hostility
or some kind of prejudice towards homosexuals, it was found that these people tend to be
homosexuals as well. This is because their overt and implicit sexual orientations are
contradictory. Furthermore, this may have been due to being raised by authoritarian parents and
belonging to a social group that greatly disapproves of homosexuality (Bryner, 2012).
What influences people in making judgments regarding others sexual orientation relies
mainly on stereotyping and social interaction. This is evident among various cultures and social
groups; moreover, these are primarily spread about by the mass media. People tend to associate
various objects to different sexual orientations. For example, the color pink and dolls are for girls
while the color blue and action figures and cars are for boys. If a person deviates from these, then
he/she is labeled as a gay/lesbian or a transgender. At present, even transgenders are assigned
symbols or objects that would signify them. An example of this is the rainbow and the butterfly.
To communicate these stereotypes to the other members of our society, and even to other
cultures, the mass media is used. This is manifested in many situations. On the other hand, a
good example for this is when rights for the gay people are being promoted, advertisements like

those of Oreo were used (Abrams, 2008). Another influence is social interaction. As people
interact more with one another, they will be able to know more about the different sexual
orientations given that the people they interact with belong to the different sexual orientations.
As a result, people will more like have an accurate guess on someones sexual orientation. For
example, a person who has substantial social interaction with gays would have a high chance of
being correct in guessing the sexual orientations of those people in the pictures who are really
gay.

Chapter III

Conceptual Framework

Perception
-Visual
-Auditory

Indicators of a Persons
Sexual Orientation
-Pupil Dilation
-Eye and Brow Region
-Protuberance of Nose/Chin
-Other Facial Features
-Behavior
-Voice

Determining or
Guessing a
Persons Sexual
Orientation

Factors Affecting
the Determination
of a Persons Sexual
Orientation
-Stereotypes
-Interaction with People
e.g. LGBTs

Hypothesis
Ho: There is no relationship between ones social interaction with LGBTs to his/her perception
about other peoples sexual orientation.
Ha: There is a relationship between ones social interaction with LGBTs to his/her perception
about other peoples sexual orientation.

Population and Place of Study

The study will involve undergraduate students of the College of Forestry and Natural
Resources, UPLB. They are of different standings, socio-economic backgrounds, and age.

The Sample
In selecting the respondents, random sampling will be used. There should be at least a
total of 25 to 30 respondents with half of it being males and the other females. This will ensure
reliability for the data that will be obtained to be generalizable. It will also help the researcher to
manage the sample and save time.

The Variables
The variables that will be used are the level of social interaction with LGBTs and the
frequency of correct guesses on sexual orientation.

Research Instrument
The instruments that will be used in this research are:

1. a collection of random pictures of people with different sexual orientations (i.e. straight
men and women, gays, lesbians, and bisexuals) taken from various dating sites and social
sites in the internet (at least 20)
2. a questionnaire containing a few follow-up queries regarding the previous activity

Research Design
The researcher will stand by at the CFNR, UPLB and will interview the potential, willing
respondents. Each respondent will be presented with a total of 15 pictures that they have selected
from the collection, and will be asked to identify the sexual orientation of the people in the
pictures. The number of correct answers will be noted. Afterwards, they will answer the
questionnaire.

Methods of Analysis
The methods that will be used in order to analyze the data will be the mean and the
Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. The formulae are:

Appendices
1. Sample Questionnaire

References
Abrams, C. F. (2008). Perception of sexual orientation as a function of amount and type of
stereotype. Retrieved from SJSU ScholarWorks.
American Psychological Association . (2012). Sexual orientation, homosexuality and bisexuality.
In American Psychological Association. Retrieved August 16, 2012, from
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx.
American Psychological Association . (2012). Answers to your questions about transgender
people, gender identity, and gender expression . In American Psychological Association.
Retrieved August 16, 2012, from http://www.apa.org/topics/sexuality/transgender.aspx.
Arterberry, M & Wilson, B. (2010). Perception of gender and perception of gender in inverted
faces. Retrieved from http://www.psych.uni.edu/psychexps/instronly_page/genderrec.htm
Berke, J. ( Updated August 15, 2011). Auditory perception: Definition of auditory perception. In
About.com. Retrieved August 16, 2012, from http://deafness.about.com/cs/
earbasics/g/audper.htm.
Bryner, J. (April 9, 2012). Homophobics may be hidden homosexuals. In LiveScience. Retrieved
August 16, 2012, from http://www.livescience.com/19563-homophobia-hiddenhomosexuals.html.
Cellerino, A., Borghetti, D., & Sartucci, F. (2004). Sex differences in face gender recognition in
humans. ScienceDirect, 63. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/
science/article/pii/S0361923004001017.
Cherry, K. (2012). What is perception: Perception and the perceptual process. In About.com.
Retrieved August 16, 2012, from http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationand
perception/ ss/perceptproc.htm.
Cloutier, J. & Macrae, C. N. (2007). Who or what are you?: Facial orientation and person
construal. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol., 37: 12981309. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.433.
Fischler School. (n. d.). Mean, median, and mode. Retrieved from http://www.fgse.
nova.edu/edl/secure/stats/lesson1.htm
Freeman, J. B., Johnson, K. L., Ambady, N., & Rule, N. O. (2010). Sexual orientation perception
involves gendered facial cues. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36 (10): 13181331. doi:10.1177/0146167210378755.
Goldstein, E. B. (2009). Sensation and perception. Retrieved from http://books.google.
com.ph/books?id=2tW91BWeNq4C&redir_esc=y.
Lane, D. (n. d.) Computing pearsons correlation coefficient. Retrieved from http://david
mlane.com/hyperstat/A51911.html.
Pappas, S. (May 16, 2012). Facial hints sharpen people's 'gaydar'. In Discovery News. Retrieved
June 14, 2012, from http://news.discovery.com/human/gay-facial-features-gaydar120516.html.
Rule, N. O., Ambady, N., & Hallett, K. C. (2009). Female sexual orientation is perceived
accurately, rapidly, and automatically from the face and its features. ScienceDirect, 45.
Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103109001838.
Tabak, J. A. & Zayas, V. (2012). The roles of featural and configural face processing in snap
judgments
of
sexual
orientation.
PLoS
ONE
7(5):
e36671.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036671.
Visual Perception. (2006). In Webster's Online Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.webstersonline-dictionary.org/definitions/Visual%20Perception.