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Viewing Time and Self-Report Measures of Sexual Attraction in Samoan Cisgender and Transgender Androphilic Males

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Abstract

Across cultures, androphilic males (natal males who are predominantly sexually attracted to adult men, not women) tend to present in one of two forms: cisgender or transgender. Previous research has shown that, although their gender presentation and identities are distinct, the two forms are similar in many other ways. The present study examined whether cisgender and transgender androphilic males exhibit a similar pattern of self-reported sexual attraction and viewing time response to images of men and women, and one that is directly inverse to that of cisgender gynephilic males (natal males who are predominately sexually attracted to adult women, not men). Using measures of self-reported sexual attraction and viewing time, we compared the response patterns of Samoan cisgender males who self-identified as men, were predominantly attracted to men, and had sex only with men (N = 16) and Samoan transgender males who self-identified as fa’afafine, were predominantly attracted to men, and had sex only with men (N = 30). Samoan cisgender males who self-identified as men, were predominantly attracted to women, and had sex only with women (N = 31) served as a comparison group. Androphilic men and fa’afafine reported greater sexual attraction to men than women and viewed the images of men longer than those of women. Gynephilic men showed the inverse pattern. Viewing time discrepancies between participant’s preferred gender and their non-preferred gender were greater for gynephilic men compared to the two androphilic groups. The implications of these preliminary findings for the use of viewing time measures of male sexual orientation across different cultural contexts are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Cisgender refers to individuals whose gender role presentation and identity match the ones they were assigned at birth.

  2. Transgender refers to individuals whose gender role presentation and identity differ from the one they were assigned as birth.

  3. The two groups of cisgender men are labeled on the basis of their behavior because they both self-identify as men, neither group self-identifies using a sexual orientation label.

  4. This phrasing was the closest approximation in Samoan to the English “sexually (un)attractive.”

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Acknowledgments

We thank Leituala Kuiniselani Toelupe Tago-Elisara, Louisa Apelu, Laulu Seuamuli Henry Taefu, Paul Ah Kuoi, Trisha Tuiloma, Alatina Ioelu, John Sylla, Samoan Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development, Samoan Immigration, the Tapuai Kuka II family of Savai’i, and all of the individuals who agreed to participate in our study. Various stages of this research were supported by the University of Lethbridge, Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Stirling; by a SSHRC Masters and Doctoral Scholarship to LJP; by a New Zealand International Doctoral Scholarship to BJD; by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship to ACL; and, by a Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant and an American Institute of Bisexuality grant to PLV.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Comparative Sexuality, Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB, T1K 3M4, Canada

    Lanna J. Petterson & Paul L. Vasey

  2. Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Barnaby J. Dixson

  3. School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Barnaby J. Dixson

  4. Behaviour and Evolution Research Group, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK

    Anthony C. Little

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  1. Lanna J. Petterson
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  2. Barnaby J. Dixson
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  4. Paul L. Vasey
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Correspondence to Lanna J. Petterson.

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This research was approved by the University of Lethbridge Human Subjects Research Ethics Committee. A Samoan Research Visa was obtained from Samoan Immigration under the auspices of the Samoan Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development. Participants were required to provide informed written consent prior to taking part in the study.

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Petterson, L.J., Dixson, B.J., Little, A.C. et al. Viewing Time and Self-Report Measures of Sexual Attraction in Samoan Cisgender and Transgender Androphilic Males. Arch Sex Behav 47, 2427–2434 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1267-7

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