<p> Women trust dating advice from a gay male friend more than from straight colleagues or friends because gay men have fewer ulterior mating motives, a significant research has revealed.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Also, women are more likely to trust and befriend gay men when they are in a highly competitive dating environment, such as a university with more female students than male students, the findings showed.<br /><br />"This provides novel experimental evidence that there is more to the gay male-straight female friendship than just what we see on TV - certain social psychological processes are, indeed, driving these relationships in real life," explained Eric Russell, the paper's lead author from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA).<br />The findings shed new light on why many heterosexual women develop close friendships with gay men.<br /><br />To reach this conclusion, the research, which comprises four separate studies, involved nearly 700 heterosexual female students at a major public university in southwestern US.<br /><br />The first study involved 167 women evaluating mock social media profiles of either a straight woman, straight man or gay man.<br /><br />It demonstrated that the women placed greater trust in a gay man's advice about a potential mate.<br /><br />The second study of 272 women showed that they perceived a gay man to be more sincere than either a straight male or a straight female in scenarios in which the women were told potentially deceptive information that could lead to competition for a mate or a sexual encounter.<br /><br />In the third study involving 128 females, the results revealed that the article describing the increase in mating competition enhanced the straight women's trust in a gay man relative to another woman.<br /><br />The fourth study included 129 women and showed that when the women perceived heightened levels of mating competition, they were more open to forming friendships with gay men.<br /><br />"Together, these converging findings provide novel insights into previously unidentified contexts that facilitate the formation and strengthening of this unique bond," the authors noted.<br /><br />"These studies are both timely and important because of the recent seismic shift in public opinion in support of equal rights and acceptance of gay individuals," added Dr William Ickes, a UTA distinguished professor of psychology in the study that appeared in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.</p>
<p> Women trust dating advice from a gay male friend more than from straight colleagues or friends because gay men have fewer ulterior mating motives, a significant research has revealed.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Also, women are more likely to trust and befriend gay men when they are in a highly competitive dating environment, such as a university with more female students than male students, the findings showed.<br /><br />"This provides novel experimental evidence that there is more to the gay male-straight female friendship than just what we see on TV - certain social psychological processes are, indeed, driving these relationships in real life," explained Eric Russell, the paper's lead author from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA).<br />The findings shed new light on why many heterosexual women develop close friendships with gay men.<br /><br />To reach this conclusion, the research, which comprises four separate studies, involved nearly 700 heterosexual female students at a major public university in southwestern US.<br /><br />The first study involved 167 women evaluating mock social media profiles of either a straight woman, straight man or gay man.<br /><br />It demonstrated that the women placed greater trust in a gay man's advice about a potential mate.<br /><br />The second study of 272 women showed that they perceived a gay man to be more sincere than either a straight male or a straight female in scenarios in which the women were told potentially deceptive information that could lead to competition for a mate or a sexual encounter.<br /><br />In the third study involving 128 females, the results revealed that the article describing the increase in mating competition enhanced the straight women's trust in a gay man relative to another woman.<br /><br />The fourth study included 129 women and showed that when the women perceived heightened levels of mating competition, they were more open to forming friendships with gay men.<br /><br />"Together, these converging findings provide novel insights into previously unidentified contexts that facilitate the formation and strengthening of this unique bond," the authors noted.<br /><br />"These studies are both timely and important because of the recent seismic shift in public opinion in support of equal rights and acceptance of gay individuals," added Dr William Ickes, a UTA distinguished professor of psychology in the study that appeared in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.</p>