Religious people who go to church or other places of worship are regarded as "closed-minded" by non-religious singles, according to a new study from the University of Oxford.

The most devout individuals profiled, who said they worshipped every week or more, were perceived to be the most closed-minded by non-religious people.

And it was the fact of their being regarded as closed-minded that was more off-putting than their religious beliefs.

The study from the university's Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology consisted of creating dating profiles for both religious and non-religious individuals.

Volunteers from a range of religious and non-religious backgrounds were asked to rate them for attractiveness.

When religious people included statements to the effect that they were open to new experiences, they were regarded as more attractive because the negative bias against them was reduced.

The study, published in the Social Psychological and Personality Science journal, concludes that some people are not attracted to people of faith because they expect them to have certain personality traits as a result of their beliefs.

However, all the students who took part agreed that religious individuals would be "significantly more agreeable" than non-religious ones.

The bias against the religious students was primarily among those of no faith. Other religious students found prospective partners more attractive if they were also religious.

Co-author Dr Jonathan Jong said: 'We already know about racial and gender stereotypes, but here we have uncovered evidence of a stereotype of the closed-minded, conservative religious believer. Interestingly, the study suggests our level of attraction is based on the implied personality traits, specifically the openness, rather than wanting partners who share our religious beliefs and behaviours per se.

"Openness and perhaps other inferences too are only part of the story, of course, but this research suggests that we should look beyond religious belief on its own as a main factor in who we choose to date."

Professor Jamin Halberstadt, from the University of Otago in New Zealand, a researcher on the study, said: "Our studies show for the first time that people's decision to partner with religious or non-religious individuals can be determined by the personal traits that religiosity is believed – rightly or wrongly – to predict, rather than religion itself."