Gay men and women

Using insight provided by an evolutionary social psychological perspective, we predicted that relationships between straight women and gay men may be uniquely characterized by an exchange of unbiased mating-relevant advice in the absence of ulterior motives.

Despite the companionship and emotional support that straight women often receive from their female friends Bleske and Buss, ; Gottman and Mettetal, ; Rose,these friends can also interfere with one another's mate attraction efforts Bleske and Buss, ; Buss Indeed, previous research demonstrates that women utilize a number of deceptive strategies to successfully outcompete each other for access to desirable mates e.

Although previous research suggests that gay men and straight women perceive one another to be uniquely trustworthy sources of social support, researchers have not yet experimentally examined what distinguishes these friendships from those that gay men and straight women form with other individuals.

Preliminary investigations have begun to examine the unique closeness of friendships formed between straight women and gay men.

Demographics of sexual orientation : More than half of LGBTQ adults identify as bisexual, 40% are gay or lesbian, and 9% are transgender

At work, the dynamic is very different between me and the women compared to a gay coworker. For example, men tend to perceive more sexual interest in women's actions than women intend DeSouza, Pierce, Zanelli, and Hutz,and indeed, men often interpret friendly greetings or actions performed by their female friends as indicating sexual interest Abbey, ; Browne, ; Saal, Johnson, and Weber, Whereas women's friendships with straight men may be tainted by one-sided sexual interest, women's friendships with other straight women may be tainted by a different brand of mating-relevant mistrust: intrasexual competition.

For example, a study conducted by Grigoriou revealed that gay men view their straight female friends to be particularly trustworthy sources of information regarding their romantic lives, contrasting it with their experiences with other gay men.

Experiment 2 demonstrated that gay men perceive mating advice offered by a straight woman to be more trustworthy than advice offered by a lesbian woman or another gay man. Using insight provided by an evolutionary social psychological perspective, we predicted that relationships between straight women and gay men may be uniquely characterized by an exchange of unbiased mating-relevant advice in the absence of ulterior motives.

Samantha Greenstone and Jacob Hoff, a straight woman and a gay man, are married, expecting a baby, and redefining love and family. Keywords: friendship, heterosexual women, homosexual men, trustworthiness, human mating. Overall, the results provide initial experimental evidence that relationships between gay men and straight women may be characterized by a mutual exchange of mating-relevant benefits in the absence of sexual interest or competition.

Research has also demonstrated that women's same-sex friendships are more fragile and less tolerant than men's e. Official websites use. These studies suggest that gay men provide positive attention for these women that straight men do not provide.

However, in contrast to a growing body of work examining the benefits of platonic relationships between heterosexual men and women e. The current research begins to address this gap in the literature by experimentally examining the nature of the perceived benefits available to gay men and straight women in the context of these friendships.

Though seemingly counterintuitive, a functional psychological perspective suggests that these friendships may be set apart by unique mating-relevant benefits exchanged by individuals within these friendships in the absence of sexual interest and competition.

Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The current experiments begin to address this question by exploring a potential benefit hypothesized to be uniquely available to straight women and gay men in the context of these friendships: trustworthy mating advice.

My team is 80% women and they can be very obnoxious when they get comfortable. Previous research reveals some of the potential costs associated with women's friendships with heterosexual men and women. For example, gay men are viewed as accepting and admiring women for who they are, regardless of their physical appearance Cho, ; Warren, As a result, women with more gay male friends report increased feelings of sexual attractiveness and greater appreciation for their body relative to women who do not have gay male friends Barlett, Patterson, VanderLaan, and Vasey, They also report feeling valued for their personality instead of their sexuality when they are with their gay — as opposed to straight — male friends Cho, ; Hopcke and Rafaty, ; Malone, Finally, heterosexual women report an increased sense of honesty and security when interacting with their gay male friends compared to their heterosexual male and female friends Grigoriou, Although most of the research conducted up to this point has examined straight female-gay male friendships from the female perspective, there is research suggesting that gay men place similarly high value on their friendships with straight women.

Although research has made progress in elucidating the benefits exchanged within same- and opposite-sex friendships formed between heterosexual men and women, it is less clear why straight women and gay men form close relationships with one another.

Experiment 1 revealed that straight women perceive mating-relevant advice from a gay man to be more trustworthy than similar advice offered by a straight man or woman.