New Study Links Pupil Dilation to Sexual Orientation

New Study Links Pupil Dilation to Sexual Orientation

Scientists from Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, have conducted a new study in which they researched if the dilation of the pupil at the sight of attractive people is related to sexual orientation. In order to achieve the results, scientists used specialized infrared lens that measured the dilation of the pupil from study participants that were watching erotic movies. The results of the study were positive, researchers reporting that the pupils of the participants dilated the most when videos which they found attractive were shown, ranging from homosexual to heterosexual.

The findings of the study were published on the 3rd of August in the scientific journal PLoS ONE. Precedent studies used more primitive methods, such as genital arousal measuring or just through questioning the participants about their sexuality.

Gerulf Rieger, the lead author of the study said that ” We wanted to find an alternative measure that would be an automatic indication of sexual orientation, but without being as invasive as previous measures. Pupillary responses are exactly that.”, whilst adding that through the use of this new technology scientists are able to explore the sexual orientation of patients who wouldn’t normally participate in the precedent studies, which are considered more invasive.

Pupil Dilation

This new study is considered to add significant information to the field of sexuality research. According to the study, the pupils of heterosexual men dilated when erotic videos showing women, however, the pupils of heterosexual women dilated when watching erotic videos showing both sexes. The result of the study confirms precedent studies that suggested that the sexuality of women is different.

Furthermore, the current study brings new information regarding male bisexuality. Previous research has suggested that most bisexual men base their sexuality on romantic issues rather than sexual identity. However, opposite to this claim, the results of this study show that bisexual men have shown pupil dilations during sexual videos of both women and men.

“We can now finally argue that a flexible sexual desire is not simply restricted to women “ some men have it, too, and it is reflected in their pupils,” says Ritch C. Savin-Williams, the co-author of the study and a professor at Cornell.

The researchers are confident that their new measure will aid in understanding these groups better and point to a range of sexualities that has been ignored in previous research.