Gay- and Lesbian-Sounding Auditory Cues Elicit Stereotyping and Discrimination

Abstract

Thegrowing bodyof literatureonthe recognition of sexual orientation from voice (‘‘auditory gaydar’’) is silent on the cognitive and social consequences of having a gay-/lesbianversus heterosexual-sounding voice.We investigated this issue in four studies (overall N=276), conducted in Italian language, in which heterosexual listeners were exposed to single-sentence voice samples of gay/lesbian and heterosexual speakers. In all four studies, listeners were found to make gender-typical inferences about traits and preferences of heterosexual speakers, but gender-atypical inferences about those of gay or lesbian speakers. Behavioral intentionmeasures showed that listeners considered lesbian and gay speakers as less suitable for a leadership position, andmale (but not female) listeners took distance from gay speakers. Together, this research demonstrates that having a gay/ lesbian rather than heterosexual-sounding voice has tangible consequences for stereotyping and discrimination