Brief exposures: Male sexual orientation is accurately perceived at 50 ms

Abstract

People have proved adept at categorizing others into social categories, at least when the categorical distinction is perceptually obvious (e.g., age, race, or gender). There remain many social groups whose boundaries are less clear, however. The current work therefore tested judgments of an ambiguous social category (male sexual orientation) from faces shown for durations between 33ms and 10,000ms. The sexual orientation of faces presented for 50ms, 100ms, 6500ms, 10,000ms, and at a self-paced rate (averaging 1500ms), was categorized at above-chance levels with no decrease in accuracy for briefer exposures. Previous work showing impression formation at similar speeds relied on consensus to determine the validity of judgments. The present results extend these findings by providing a criterion for judgmental accuracy—actual group membership.