The design of neutrality: evaluations and biases in the perception of male, female, and neutral avatar faces in a gender diverse sample

Gender stereotypes can influence user interactions with digital agents, shaping perceptions and behaviors based on avatar representation. However, gender-neutral designs have only recently emerged as a potential strategy to challenge and reduce these biases. Moreover, the effectiveness of such designs remains largely underexplored in the context of non-binary individuals, who are often excluded from evaluation studies due to their low representation. In an online survey experiment using a 3x3 mixed factorial design and a validated set of 9 stimuli, participants of different self-reported genders evaluated masculine, feminine, and gender-neutral avatar faces across multiple perceptual dimensions (likeability, agency, communion, interaction, and attractiveness), together with measures of ambivalent sexism (ASI) and ambivalence toward men (AMI). The results revealed a strong effect of participant gender on avatars perception, with non-binary participants providing significantly lower ratings than both men and women for all dependent variables. When gender-prejudice measures were included, these group differences were substantially reduced, revealing that dimensions of ambivalent sexism and ambivalence toward men shaped avatar perception. Benevolence toward men increased ratings only among male participants, whereas hostility toward men enhanced evaluations across all participants. Hostile sexism also interacted with both participant and avatar gender, influencing agency and communion judgments. Overall, the results indicate that rather than pursuing the search for seemingly gender-neutral technologies, it is more appropriate to include in the design processes of these technologies, participants with different genders and different attitudes toward the multiplicities of gender expression, and to employ more gender-diverse rather than gender-neutral avatar representations.