Attraction to male facial masculinity in gay men in China: relationship to intercourse preference positions and sociosexual behavior.

Distinctions are commonly made regarding preferences for insertive or receptive anal intercourse within gay male communities. Three sexual self-labels are typically specified: "top," meaning a man who prefers the insertive role, "bottom," meaning a man who prefers the receptive role, and "versatile," meaning a man willing to perform either role. In this study, we examined the association between intercourse position preference and preference for male facial masculinity among 447 gay men across multiple cities in China. Each participant was shown 10 pairs of male faces sequentially, with each pair consisting of a masculinized and feminized version of the same base face. Tops preferred the feminized male face over the masculinized face, bottoms preferred the masculinized male face over the feminized face, and versatiles did not have a preference. Tops preferred more feminized male faces than did bottoms and versatiles. Preferences for male facial masculinity were also associated with sociosexual orientation and the nature of the associations differed by sex role preferences. Among tops, men who were less restricted preferred more feminine male faces compared to men who were more restricted. Among bottoms, men who were less restricted preferred more masculine male faces compared to men who were more restricted. Among versatiles, there was no association between sociosexual orientation and preferences for male facial masculinity. These findings provide new evidence that less sociosexually restricted men have stronger preferences for sexual dimorphism in the sexual partners they prefer than do more restricted men.