Where’s there’s a Will, there’s a Grace, or at least that’s what a new study has supposedly found.
Published in Evolutionary Psychology, there is a reason why gay men and straight women find a ‘mutual attraction’ to each other.
Psychologists at Texas Christian University developed a fictional Facebook personality, called Jordan, and evaluated how participants related to him or her.
For the 88 straight women involved, ‘Jordan’ was either a straight man, a straight woman, or a gay man.
For the 58 gay men, ‘Jordan’ was a straight man, a gay man or a lesbian.
The fake friend’s sexuality and gender was different for each subject, but everything else about ‘Jordan’ was the same.
After getting to know Jordan by reading their profile, the subjects were asked to hypothetically imagine themselves in scenarios where their new friend would offer them dating advice.
They were then asked how trustworthy they found their fake friend’s advice, and how well their chances would be of getting a date with their help.
Eric M Russell, the lead researcher, said gay guys and straight girls connect because there are ‘uniquely trustworthy sources of social support’. In other words, they are not going after the same guy. But then, how would it work if the guy they were after was bisexual?
As Queerty’s Dan Avery notes, it is impossible to chart friendships like a chemical equation.
He said: ‘The gay man/straight woman friendship is a something of a social construct, not evolution.
‘Some gay men have close woen friends, and some do not. Some of us form close-knit relationships with girls when we’re first coming out – because we’re absolutely terrified of straight men and gay men – but then find those bonds fade as we emerge from our shells.
‘And, in 2013, many of us are making friends all across the spectrum – straight guys, gays women, the works. Imagine that.’