Dr Qazi Rahman and PhD student William Jolly from the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences discuss how people use signals to make a decision about whether they think someone is gay or straight. They are researching how we isolate the individual signals and patterns in somebody's face, in order to work out exactly what motivates us to make a quick decision about sexuality. It is hoped that the study will challenge stereotypes and prejudice by increasing awareness of how quickly, and often inaccurately, people classify each other.
This story has been aired at BBC Radio 4.