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. 2021 Nov;50(8):3799-3808.
doi: 10.1007/s10508-021-02016-6. Epub 2021 Oct 12.

The Importance of Intact Senses in Mating and Social Assessments Made by Deaf Individuals

Anna Oleszkiewicz  1   2 , Paulina Idziak  3 , Marta Rokosz  4
Affiliations

The Importance of Intact Senses in Mating and Social Assessments Made by Deaf Individuals

Anna Oleszkiewicz et al. Arch Sex Behav. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Social perception is a multimodal process involving vision and audition as central input sources for human social cognitive processes. However, it remains unclear how profoundly deaf people assess others in the context of mating and social interaction. The current study explored the relative importance of different sensory modalities (vision, smell, and touch) in assessments of opposite- and same-sex strangers. We focused on potential sensory compensation processes in mate selection (i.e., increased importance of the intact senses in forming impressions of an opposite-sex stranger as a potential partner). A total of 74 deaf individuals and 100 normally hearing controls were included in the study sample. We found diminished importance of vision and smell in deaf participants compared with controls for opposite- and same-sex strangers, and increased importance of touch for the assessment of same-sex strangers. The results suggested that deaf people rely less on visual and olfactory cues in mating and social assessments, highlighting a possible role of sign language in shaping interpersonal tactile experience in non-romantic relationships.

Keywords: Attractiveness; Deafness; Mate selection; Sensory modalities.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Estimated marginal means for the importance attributed to the intact senses by deaf individuals and their hearing counterparts when assessing an opposite-sex stranger (potential partner). Error bars represent standard mean error. ***p < .001; **p < .01
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Estimated marginal means for the importance attributed to the intact senses by deaf individuals and their hearing counterparts when assessing a same-sex stranger. Error bars represent standard mean error. ***p < .001; **p < .01
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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