'Gaydar': Women really can tell sexuality just by looking at a man

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It's just plain biology: A woman's need for a mate gives her the instinct to tell a man's sexual orientation
If a woman tells you she can spot a gay man just by looking at him, dont dismiss her claim out of hand.Scientists say women really do have gaydar, which helps them spot whether a man is straight or gay just by looking at his face.And the instinct is at its strongest when she is at her most fertile and in the mood for romance.Their findings suggest that a womans ability to determine whether a potential male partner is straight or gay is linked to the impulse to have children.During the three experiments, some 40 heterosexual women were shown a set of photographs of 80 mens faces, all with the same expression. Researchers found women were remarkably adept in being able to spot the gay and straight men.But in a similar experiment using photographs of gay and straight women, they were less able to differentiate.The study, by psychologists from the University of Toronto, then compared the results to the womens cycles and found those at their most fertile had the most accurate male gaydar.

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Lead researcher, Professor Nicholas Rule said: This effect is not apparent when a woman is judging another females orientation.

Pugh This suggests that fertility influences a heterosexual womans attention to potential mates rather than merely increasing sensitivity to sexual orientat! ion or n onverbal cues more generally. In a follow-up experiment, half of a group of women were asked to read a story about a love affair before looking at the mens faces, the idea being they would be in a romantic mindset.Those women were even more accurate at identifying gay men from their pictures. This suggests the intuition is at its strongest not just when the biological clock is ticking but also when they are, quite literally, in the mood for love. Professor Rule added: These findings suggest womens accuracy may vary across the fertility cycle because mens sexual orientation is relevant to conception. It implies that inducing romantic or mating-related thoughts improved accuracy in identifying mens sexual orientations.