Same-sex attraction in women developed because men get turned on by it, a controversial new scientific study has argued.

The paper tried to determine the evolutionary origins of lesbianism, arguing that it may have developed because of men’s excitement at the thought of women being attracted to one another.

The Cypriot researchers, from the University of Nicosia, surveyed a total of 1,509 heterosexual participants for their study.

Lead researcher Menelaos Apostolou’s hypothesis has naturally attracted plenty of scepticism, with many arguing that the theories are outlandish and not supported by the evidence gathered, but he defended his theories in conversation with PinkNews.

“My argument in the paper is this: A considerable proportion of men desire same-sex attractions in women, and this is one possible reason why many women have such attractions,” he said.

The paper states: “About half of the men in the sample reported that they would become sexually excited if their opposite-sex partners revealed to them that they experienced same-sex attraction.”

Related: Woman shocked to discover ‘lesbianism’ listed as a problem in her medical history

Findings showed that 34.3 percent of male respondents would prefer a partner who is attracted “predominantly to members of the opposite-sex but occasionally of the same-sex”.

The same answer was given by only 7.8 percent of women considered in the survey.

The researchers argued that one of the reasons for men being attracted to women who experience same-sex attraction could be to increase their certainty of being the father of a potential child if their partner sleeps with someone else.

The paper reads: “A woman, driven by her sexual desires, may seek sexual contact outside of her long-term intimate relationship.

“When this woman has sex with another woman she does not have sex with another man which translates into same-sex contact reducing the risk of cuckoldry.”

The study also tried to analyse the differences between long and short-term relationships.

In short-term relationships, about 30 percent of heterosexual men said they would occasionally want their partner to have sexual contact with members of the same sex.

This number halved for men in long-term liaisons.

The research naturally sparked controversy among the scientific community, but Apostolou insisted to PinkNews “that this is a solid argument”.

Diana Fleischman, a psychologist at the University of Portsmouth told told International Business Times: “The paper totally ignores a lot of other possible hypotheses and makes claims that are really not supported by the evidence they provide.”

For example, the paper failed to account for the effects of porn on the male perception of lesbianism.

“I can’t really see how cultural factors would make some men be turned on when their partners tell them I want to have sex with another woman,” Apostolou said.

“These kinds of sexual traits are more instinctive. It’s a mechanism that has been selected to serve a purpose, to make you reproduce.”

Apostolou did recognise some of the limitations of his arguments and accepted that more research needs to be carried out if we are to understand the complexity of same-sex attractions.

He told PinkNews: “I believe also that there are additional factors that need to be taken into consideration if same-sex attraction in women is to be understood.

“The publication of my theory gives the opportunity for a fruitful academic dialogue, where another scholar may attempt to refute, alter, or expand it and replicate my findings.”