People use cues of facial gender typicality when making sexual orientation judgements, where gender typical faces (masculine men and feminine women) are more likely to be judged as heterosexual and gender atypical faces (feminine men and masculine women) are judged as non-heterosexual. Individual differences in the belief of associated stereotypes have been shown to influence how these stereotypes are used to make social judgments of others; therefore, across two studies, we tested whether the strength of beliefs in gender stereotypes impacted how facial gender typicality cues were used when making sexual orientation judgements. In both Study 1 and 2 (n = 283 and 219, respectively), participants made sexual orientation judgements of 80 faces (40 male, 40 female) that varied in gender typicality and completed a measure of belief in gender stereotypes. In Study 2, participants also completed a sexual prejudice measure. In line with predictions, both studies found that the strength in belief of gender stereotypes significantly moderated the use of facial gender typicality cues when making sexual orientation judgements. Participants with a greater belief in gender stereotypes were more likely to judge a face as heterosexual as gender typicality increased. In Study 2, the association between sexual prejudice and use of gender typicality cues was fully mediated by beliefs in gender role stereotypes. These results highlight the importance of considering individual differences of the perceiver and how they can interact with cues from a target, particularly when making sexual orientation judgements.

人们在做出性取向判断时使用面部性别典型的线索，其中性别典型的面孔（男性和女性）更有可能被判断为异性恋，而性别非典型面孔（女性化男性和男性化女性）被判断为非异性恋。事实证明，对相关刻板印象的信念的个体差异会影响这些刻板印象如何被用来对他人进行社会评判;因此，在两项研究中，我们测试了对性别刻板印象的信念强度是否会影响在做出性取向判断时如何使用面部性别典型线索。在研究 1 和 2 中（分别为 n = 283 和 219），参与者对 80 张性别典型性不同的面孔（40 名男性、40 名女性）进行了性取向判断，并完成了对性别刻板印象的信念测量。在研究 2 中，参与者还完成了一项性偏见测量。与预测一致，这两项研究都发现，在做出性取向判断时，对性别刻板印象的信念强度显着调节了面部性别典型线索的使用。随着性别典型性的增加，更相信性别刻板印象的参与者更有可能判断一张面孔是异性恋。在研究 2 中，性偏见与使用性别典型线索之间的关联完全由对性别角色刻板印象的信念介导。这些结果强调了考虑感知者的个体差异以及他们如何与目标的线索互动的重要性，尤其是在做出性取向判断时。