Scientists have found that the eyes can give away a person's sexual orientation
It turns out that the eyes are not only a mirror of the soul, but also an accurate indicator of a person's sexual orientation. Such an interesting discovery was made by scientists from Cornell University Rich Savin-Williams (Ritch C. Savin-Williams) and Gerulf Rieger (Gerulf Rieger). Researchers have done a lot of work to determine how a person's pupils react to sexual arousal.
Eyes with dilated pupils have long been considered sexy. Therefore, in the XVI-XVII centuries, European ladies instilled belladonna extract in their eyes. The components included in this drug did not allow the pupils to contract, which added to their owner's attractiveness in men.
Pupils can expand not only at the sight of a coveted sexual partner, but also in some other cases, for example, when contemplating a beautiful work of art. But British scientists were interested in the reaction of human pupils to arousal, so they turned to an unusual team of volunteers for help.
Savin-Williams and Rieger assembled a group of 160 women and 165 men, which included heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual participants. These people were shown a video with a masturbating woman for one minute, and at this time the devices monitored the change in the size of their pupils. Additionally, the participants of the experiment recorded what emotions they felt while watching the video.
This method of studying the reaction to a sexual video is used for the first time. Usually, when viewing photos or videos of erotic content, the volunteers were connected to the genitals of sensors that register blood flow. This technique had many disadvantages.
First of all, it was difficult to find those who wanted to participate in the study, since no one wanted any devices connected to his genitals. Secondly, the purity of the experiment suffers, since people have different genital reactions to arousal, ranging from pronounced to almost imperceptible.
Surveys of participants, which were also previously resorted to by scientists, can also not be called an accurate way to find out the reaction. Many are embarrassed to admit that something excites them, since the topic of sex in modern society is still taboo.
The method used by Savin-Williams and Rieger showed that the pupils dilated only in those viewers who were aroused by a video with a masturbating woman. At the same time, there were some differences between the reactions of men and women.
Heterosexual and bisexual men reacted to the video by dilating their pupils, and in homosexual men, the devices did not record changes in indicators. But in women, everything is different — the pupils dilated both in homosexual and in those with a traditional orientation.
This in no way means that all women are bisexual. This reaction is explained by evolutionary mechanisms that have nothing to do with orientation.
So now we can say with confidence that the pupil is the most accurate indicator of sexual orientation. Its expansion is an unconditional reflex that cannot be imitated.
Keywords: UK | Eyes | Homosexuals | Volunteers | Researchers | Reaction | Effect