Women's trust in gay men: An experimental study

Many heterosexual women perceive gay men to be especially trustworthy friends because both groups are sexually attracted to men, but their romantic/sexual partners tend to be different types of men (i.e., heterosexual vs. gay). This reduces the possibility of sabotage in romantic/sexual competition and ulterior motives in friendship. We sought to replicate women's elevated trust in gay men in samples of single (Study 1) and partnered women (Study 2). Both studies used experimental primes to induce women to think of gay men as potential romantic/sexual competitors, thus lowering trust. Counter to our predictions, women in Study 1 showed equivalent trust when imagining receiving mating-relevant advice from a gay man and a heterosexual woman. In Study 2, partnered women reported greater mistrust when imagining a heterosexual woman interacting alone with their partner compared to a gay man doing the same. Experimental primes did not moderate trust in either study. These results partially replicate and extend past research, showing that partnered women display greater trust in gay men than other women in mating-relevant contexts. This is likely because Euro-American women do not perceive gay men to be romantic/sexual competitors, and psychological primes indicating the contrary do not undermine these perceptions.

Automated summary

The study found that partnered women display greater trust in gay men than other women in mating-relevant contexts, likely because they do not perceive gay men to be romantic/sexual competitors.