Observer Gaze Patterns of Patient Photos Pre- and Post-Facial Feminization

Human interaction begins with the visual evaluation of others, and this often centers on the face. Objective measurement of this evaluation gives clues to social perception.The objective was to use eye-tracking technology to evaluate if there are scanpath differences when observers view faces of men, women, and transgender women pre- and post-facial feminization surgery (FFS) including when assigning tasks assessing femininity, attractiveness, and likability.Undergraduate psychology students were prospectively recruited as observers at a single institution. Using eye-tracking technology, they were presented frontal images of prototypical male, prototypical female, and pre- and post-FFS face photos in a random order and then with prompting to assess femininity, attractiveness, and likability.Twenty-seven observers performed the tasks. Participants focused their attention more on the central triangle of post-operative and prototypical female images and forehead of pre-operative and prototypical male images. Higher femininity ratings were associated with longer proportional fixations to the central triangle and lower proportional fixations to the forehead.This preliminary study implies the scanpath for viewing a post-FFS face is closer to that for viewing a prototypical female than a prototypical male based on differences viewing the forehead and brow versus the central triangle.