Large sexual-orientation-related differences in performance on mental rotation and judgment of line orientation tasks.
This study examined the performance of heterosexual and homosexual men and women on 2 tests of spatial processing, mental rotation (MR) and Benton Judgment of Line Orientation (JLO). The sample comprised 60 heterosexual men, 60 heterosexual women, 60 homosexual men, and 60 homosexual women. There were significant main effects of gender (men achieving higher scores overall) and Gender x Sexual Orientation interactions. Decomposing these interactions revealed large differences between the male groups in favor of heterosexual men on JLO and MR performance. There was a modest difference between the female groups on MR total correct scores in favor of homosexual women but no differences in MR percentage correct. The evidence suggests possible variations in the parietal cortex between homosexual and heterosexual persons.
Rahman
Qazi
Q
Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, Denmark Hill, England. q.rahman@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Wilson
Glenn D
GD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003867:Depth Perception / Q000502:physiology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology; D011594:Psychometrics