LONDON: Most women are either bisexual or gay but "never straight", a study has claimed.
Research has found that though lesbians were much more attracted to the female form, most women who said they were heterosexual were in fact aroused by videos of both naked men and naked women.
The study, led by Dr Gerulf Rieger from the department of psychology at the University of Essex, involved 345 women whose responses to being shown videos of naked men and women were analysed. The results, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, were based on elements such as whether their pupils dilated in response to sexual stimuli.
They showed that 82 per cent of the women tested were aroused by both sexes. Of the women who identified as heterosexual, 74 per cent were strongly aroused by videos of both attractive men and attractive women.
This was in contrast to lesbians, who showed much stronger sexual responses to women than to men.
The researchers said lesbians were the most like men because they usually show distinct responses to their favoured sex. Dr Rieger said: "Even though the majority of women identify as straight, our research clearly demonstrates that when it comes to what turns them on, they are either bisexual or gay, but never straight.
"Although some lesbians were more masculine in their sexual arousal, and others were more masculine in their behaviours, there was no indication that these were the same women."
Dr Rieger also said his study showed that lesbians who may dress in a more masculine way may not necessarily behave in a masculine fashion sexually.