The effects of information of gender, gender expression and sexual orientation on perceived humaneness

When gender is referred to, not only gender categories (man and woman), but also sexual orientation and gender expression (masculinity and femininity) are thought. Among these gender categories particularly women and homosexuals face with negative attitudes, prejudices and discrimination. While previous studies in the literature focus on gender identity and gender roles, the importance of gender expression has emerged due to recent conceptualization of gender as fluid. However, there has not been enough studies on gender expression yet. For example, in dehumanization studies it has been found that women are perceived warmer, but the importance of gender expression has not been mentioned in this regard. Therefore, the aim of this study is to reveal the effect of gender expression on attributing human characteristics to a target person. In the present research, two studies were conducted to realize this purpose. In the first study, eight different conditions were created via vignettes. In the vignettes, a male or female character was depicted either as masculine or feminine (gender expression) and either as a homosexual or a heterosexual individual. There were 147 participants in the study. The vignettes were given to participants randomly and participants were asked to attribute human characteristics to the target person in the relevant condition. The result of the study showed that the main effect of gender and sexual orientation were not significant in attributing human characteristics whereas the effect of gender expression was significant. This effect emerged in attributing human nature characteristics (e.g., warmth, emotiveness, sociability). Participants ascribed human nature characteristics more to feminine target person compared to masculine target person. Any interaction effect was not significant. In the second study, the same procedure was applied but this time through pictures. As a result of the study, in which 146 university students participated, it was found that gender expression had a significant effect in attributing human characteristics consistent with the results of first study. The target person who has feminine gender expression was attributed more human nature characteristics than masculine target conditions. Moreover, there was significant main effect of sexual orientation. Homosexual targets were ascribed significantly more human nature characteristics than heterosexual target conditions. In addition, the interaction effect of gender and gender expression was significant in attributing uniquely human characteristics (e.g., refinement, civility, rationality) to the target person. Participants ascribed more uniquely human characteristics to masculine man target than masculine woman target.