How Feminine and Masculine Do Cisgender People in the U.S. Think the Average Gender Nonbinary Person Is?

Perception of gender is ubiquitous and consequential in social life. People who are perceived as women are expected to enact femininity, whereas people who are perceived as men are expected to enact masculinity. How do gender nonbinary people fit into these binary assumptions? The present work examined the perceived femininity and masculinity of nonbinary people. In particular, cisgender, primarily straight/heterosexual, U.S.-based participants reported their assumptions about the assigned sex (Study 1; N = 315) or their perceptions of the femininity and masculinity (Studies 2–3; N s = 216 and 277) of the average nonbinary person. No apparent bias in terms of assumed sex or perceived femininity emerged, yet participants rated the average nonbinary person as reliably below the scale midpoint on masculinity. Accordingly, cisgender straight Americans’ perceptions of the average nonbinary person may in part reflect a tendency to safeguard masculinity.