Do You See What I See? The Influence of a Diverse Identity on Gendered Face Perception

Abstract

Psychological research on face perception has often regarded the social category of gender as discrete, immutable and highly conflated with sex assigned at birth. In an increasingly diverse world, there exists a pressing need to shift beyond binary constructions of gender in an effort to be more inclusive of those whose diverse identities and perspectives have historically been excluded by normative societal bounds. Emerging <social vision= theories of face perception emphasize the importance of <top-down= conceptual social category knowledge on the processing of <bottom-up= perceptually-based facial cues. As such, the current study explores the potential influence a perceiver9s previously held gender category knowledge has on the gendered face perception process. Three distinct participant groups, comprising of Gender Diverse (Trans/Non-Binary/Genderqueer), Cisgender-LGBPQ+, and Cisgender-Heterosexual individuals, were recruited to inspect whether increased experiences with gender identity rumination and theoretical awareness of gender influences the perception and categorization of faces of varying levels of masculinity, femininity, and androgyny. Using a perceptual sorting task measure of gendered face perception, in conjunction with two conceptual gender category measures (the Gender Reflection and Rumination Scale and the Genderqueer Identity – Theoretical Awareness Scale), researchers discovered significant group differences in perception of gendered faces and gender category knowledge. While all participants, regardless of participant group affiliation, were generally slower and less accurate at sorting more androgynous and less prototypically masculine or feminine faces, Gender Diverse participants were significantly more accurate at sorting more androgynous faces than either Cisgender participant group. Additionally, the Gender Diverse group reported the most gender rumination and theoretical gender knowledge. However, gender category knowledge, amongst all participant groups, was not found to have a significant influence on sorting task performance. Thus, researchers recommend that other perceptual and conceptual factors, like social network connections and perceptual fluency, be investigated to better understand as to why these participant groups perceive gendered faces differently. Keywords: Gendered Face Perception, Diverse Gender Identities, Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down, Gender Category Knowledge, Gender Identity Rumination, Theoretical Awareness of Gender