Are you attracted to intelligence? Maybe you’re ‘sapiosexual’

If you find someone’s bookshelf more attractive than their body, you could be a sapiosexual.

The new identity has been flaunting itself as a sexual orientation ever since OKCupid listed it in their options alongside gay, lesbian, bi etc.

Those identifying under the term say they find intelligence the most attractive thing about someone – above gender or other characteristics about a person.

In mid-October, the Sapio: Intelligent Dating app was launched in a bid to help such people meet one another.

“Sick of superficial hookup apps?” its developers Humanist Dating LLC asked potential users on the AppStore.

“Sapio is an evolution in dating apps, where physical and intellectual attraction are put on an equal level.

“True matches are also an attraction to how someone thinks, how they behave, and who they are at deeper levels.”

More than 58,000 people have liked a Facebook page committed to sapiosexuality, while 9,000 are estimated to identify under the label on OKCupid.

The page defines the term as: “A behavior of becoming attracted to or aroused by intelligence and its use.”

One committed sapiosexual writes online of her identity: “My sex life was brimming with cunning linguists who bought me books instead of flowers and who truly gave new meaning to the phrase “giving head.”

However some have dismissed sapiosexuals as merely a way to exclude those of different class or education.

It’s argued you can’t be attracted to a person’s mind in the way many are are to their gender, and so is actually just an invention to excuse being a snob.

One explanation seems that a person like this is pansexual (not limited in sexual choice with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity) and finds brains an attractive feature.