That first lovers' gaze is the staple of any romantic movie. But is it possible to have love at first sight? Scientists believe they have now revealed the true nature of its attractive power--and it is less about love and more about sex and ego. Go figure.

"People are attracted to people who are attracted to them," said Ben Jones in the Face Research Laboratory at the University of Aberdeen. "It's really a very basic effect that we are all, at some level at least, aware of - which is that if you smile at people and you maintain eye contact, it makes you more attractive."

Dr Jones and his colleagues say that attraction is based on social cues that say, "I'm interested in you." The most important cue seems to be whether someone is looking directly at you. The team found that a direct stare is attractive only if the person who is giving face looks as if they like you. This preference was even higher if the face in the picture was of the opposite sex. "What we found at the most basic level is that people like faces with direct gaze more than they like the same faces with averted gaze," said Dr Jones.

Next time you are checking someone out across the room, to get that Love at First Sight feeling, don't forget to stare directly at her and increase your chances of having her stare back.