A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä
Gender and Visibility of Sexual Cues Influence Eye Movements While Viewing Faces and Bodies
Tekijät: Nummenmaa L, Hietanen JK, Santtila P, Hyona J
Kustantaja: SPRINGER/PLENUM PUBLISHERS
Julkaisuvuosi: 2012
Journal: Archives of Sexual Behavior
Tietokannassa oleva lehden nimi: ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR
Lehden akronyymi: ARCH SEX BEHAV
Vuosikerta: 41
Numero: 6
Aloitussivu: 1439
Lopetussivu: 1451
Sivujen määrä: 13
ISSN: 0004-0002
eISSN: 1573-2800
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9911-0
Tiivistelmä
Faces and bodies convey important information for the identification of potential sexual partners, yet clothing typically covers many of the bodily cues relevant for mating and reproduction. In this eye tracking study, we assessed how men and women viewed nude and clothed, same and opposite gender human figures. We found that participants inspected the nude bodies more thoroughly. First fixations landed almost always on the face, but were subsequently followed by viewing of the chest and pelvic regions. When viewing nude images, fixations were biased away from the face towards the chest and pelvic regions. Fixating these regions was also associated with elevated physiological arousal. Overall, men spent more time looking at female than male stimuli, whereas women looked equally long at male and female stimuli. In comparison to women, men spent relatively more time looking at the chests of nude female stimuli whereas women spent more time looking at the pelvic/genital region of male stimuli. We propose that the augmented and gender-contingent visual scanning of nude bodies reflects selective engagement of the visual attention circuits upon perception of signals relevant to choosing a sexual partner, which supports mating and reproduction.
Faces and bodies convey important information for the identification of potential sexual partners, yet clothing typically covers many of the bodily cues relevant for mating and reproduction. In this eye tracking study, we assessed how men and women viewed nude and clothed, same and opposite gender human figures. We found that participants inspected the nude bodies more thoroughly. First fixations landed almost always on the face, but were subsequently followed by viewing of the chest and pelvic regions. When viewing nude images, fixations were biased away from the face towards the chest and pelvic regions. Fixating these regions was also associated with elevated physiological arousal. Overall, men spent more time looking at female than male stimuli, whereas women looked equally long at male and female stimuli. In comparison to women, men spent relatively more time looking at the chests of nude female stimuli whereas women spent more time looking at the pelvic/genital region of male stimuli. We propose that the augmented and gender-contingent visual scanning of nude bodies reflects selective engagement of the visual attention circuits upon perception of signals relevant to choosing a sexual partner, which supports mating and reproduction.
Turun yliopiston Tutkimustietojärjestelmän portaali