No evidence that partnered and unpartnered gay men differ in their preferences for male facial masculinity

Abstract

Women’s preferences for masculine characteristics in men’s faces have been extensively studied. By contrast, little is known about how gay men respond to masculine facial characteristics. One area of disagreement in the emerging literature on this topic is the association between gay men’s partnership status and masculinity preference. One study found that partnered gay men showed stronger preferences for masculine faces than did single gay men, while another study found that partnered gay men showed weaker preferences for masculine faces than did single gay men. We re-examined this issue in a sample of 618 gay men, finding no significant difference between partnered and single gay men’s masculinity preferences. Together with the mixed previous findings, our null result suggests that the effect of partnership status on gay men’s face preferences is not robust.