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Preferences for Masculinity Across Faces, Bodies, and Personality Traits in Homosexual and Bisexual Chinese Men: Relationship to Sexual Self-Labels and Attitudes Toward Masculinity

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Abstract

This study examined preferences for masculinity across faces, bodies, and personality traits in 462 homosexual and bisexual men in China. The impact of sexual self-labels (tops, bottoms, and versatiles) and attitude toward male masculinity on preferences for masculinity were also examined. Participants were asked to select the seven most desirable personality traits for a romantic partner from a list of 32 traits of gender roles. A series of 10 masculinized and feminized dimorphic images of male faces and bodies were then presented to participants, who were required to identify their preferred image. The results indicated that participants preferred more masculine faces, bodies, and personality traits. Significant differences in preferences for masculinity were found between tops, bottoms, and versatiles, with both bottoms and versatiles preferring more masculine faces, bodies, and personality traits than did tops. In addition, preferences for masculinity across faces, bodies, and traits showed a significant positive correlation with each other for all sexual self-labels, indicating a consistent preference for masculinity. Attitude toward male masculinity was significantly correlated with facial, body, and trait preferences; individuals with more rigid attitudes toward male masculinity (low acceptance of femininity in males) preferred more masculine characters. These results indicate a consistent preference for masculinity between both physical features (faces and bodies) and personality traits (instrumentality) that may be affected by observer perception.

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by Humanity and Social Science Youth Foundation of Ministry of Education (13XJC190003), by Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (20130182120014), by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SWU1309259), by the Doctoral Scientific Fund (SWU1209312) of Southwest University, China.

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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. Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Lijun Zheng & Yong Zheng

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  1. Lijun Zheng
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  2. Yong Zheng
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Correspondence to Lijun Zheng.

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Zheng, L., Zheng, Y. Preferences for Masculinity Across Faces, Bodies, and Personality Traits in Homosexual and Bisexual Chinese Men: Relationship to Sexual Self-Labels and Attitudes Toward Masculinity. Arch Sex Behav 45, 725–733 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0543-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0543-z

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