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Attraction to Male Facial Masculinity in Gay Men in China: Relationship to Intercourse Preference Positions and Sociosexual Behavior

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Abstract

Distinctions are commonly made regarding preferences for insertive or receptive anal intercourse within gay male communities. Three sexual self-labels are typically specified: “top,” meaning a man who prefers the insertive role, “bottom,” meaning a man who prefers the receptive role, and “versatile,” meaning a man willing to perform either role. In this study, we examined the association between intercourse position preference and preference for male facial masculinity among 447 gay men across multiple cities in China. Each participant was shown 10 pairs of male faces sequentially, with each pair consisting of a masculinized and feminized version of the same base face. Tops preferred the feminized male face over the masculinized face, bottoms preferred the masculinized male face over the feminized face, and versatiles did not have a preference. Tops preferred more feminized male faces than did bottoms and versatiles. Preferences for male facial masculinity were also associated with sociosexual orientation and the nature of the associations differed by sex role preferences. Among tops, men who were less restricted preferred more feminine male faces compared to men who were more restricted. Among bottoms, men who were less restricted preferred more masculine male faces compared to men who were more restricted. Among versatiles, there was no association between sociosexual orientation and preferences for male facial masculinity. These findings provide new evidence that less sociosexually restricted men have stronger preferences for sexual dimorphism in the sexual partners they prefer than do more restricted men.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SWU1309259), by the Doctoral Fund of MOE (20120182110001), by the National Key Discipline Project (TR201206-1 & TR201206-6) of China, and by the Doctoral Scientific Fund (SWU1209312) of Southwest University, China. Dr. Hart is supported by a Career Scientist Award from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Southwest University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China

    Lijun Zheng & Yong Zheng

  2. School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Lijun Zheng & Yong Zheng

  3. Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Trevor A. Hart

  4. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Trevor A. Hart

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  1. Lijun Zheng
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  2. Trevor A. Hart
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  3. Yong Zheng
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Correspondence to Yong Zheng.

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Zheng, L., Hart, T.A. & Zheng, Y. Attraction to Male Facial Masculinity in Gay Men in China: Relationship to Intercourse Preference Positions and Sociosexual Behavior. Arch Sex Behav 42, 1223–1232 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-0057-x

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