A new study conducted by a Northeastern University doctoral student found that when it comes to determining a woman's sexuality, lesbians are able to tell if another woman is a lesbian more accurately than straight women.
In other words, lesbians have better 'gaydar' than straight women.
Studies about gaydar have traditionally focused on gay men who can tell if other men are gay by looking at them. Mollie Ruben, a university doctoral student, wanted to see if women have the ability to do the same by observing other women, The Independent reported.
Ruben and her team conducted five-minute video interviews with nine women. Five of the women were lesbians. Each woman wrote down the thoughts and emotions she had during the interview.
The team then asked a group of 110 women, 43 lesbians and 67 straight, to watch the videos of the women who were interviewed. The larger group was asked to determine the nine women's emotions and sexuality.
Ruben found that the lesbians in the larger group were much better at telling if the other women were lesbians or straight, while straight women focused on other aspects.
"While the lesbians were better at predicting sexual orientation, the straight women were better at predicting thoughts and emotions," an article about the study published on the university's website said.
Both lesbians and straight women also had an easier time guessing the emotions and sexuality of other straight women. This suggested that straight women are more transparent, the university's site said.
The team concluded that lesbians thought it was "more interesting, motivating, and rewarding to judge the sexual orientation of other women compared to judging their thoughts, emotions or personality," The Independent reported.
At the same time, straight women "might not care so much about sexual orientation and thus don't focus on it enough to detect it."
