Netta Weintstein, a lecturer at the University of Essex, said: ‘Individuals who identify as straight but in psychological tests show a strong attraction to the same sex may be threatened by gays and lesbians because homosexuals remind them of similar tendencies within themselves’.

Psychology professor Richard Ryan, who helped with the research, said in many cases homophobic people are ‘at war’ with themselves over the issue and ‘are turning the internal conflict outward’.

Researchers reached their conclusions following four experiments, each using 160 students in the U.S. and Germany.