A new study has found evidence of a gene that may explain why women tend to be more adept in social situations than men - contradicting the popular notion that cultural differences cause the male-female social gap.

"This suggests there is a genetic basis for female intuition - . . the ability to read social situations that are not obvious," says David Skuse, lead author of the report in this week's issue of Nature. "Women are born with that facility and men have to learn it."

Dr. Skuse, of the University of london's Institute of Child Health, and his colleagues tested the social skills of 8O women with Turner's syndrome, a disease in which women are born with one X chromosome. Normally, women have two X chromosomes - one from their mother and one from their father-while men have only a single X from their mothers.

Researchers determined whether the Turner's patients got their X chromosome from their mothers or fathers, and found that women with only a maternal X (like men have) had worse social skills than women with a paternal x.

Indeed, women with only the maternal X acted a lot like normal men who underwent similar behavior tests. They were less adept in situations that called for some self-restraint. They were apt to say the first thing on their mind, "rather than the appropriate response," says Dr. Skuse. Scientists also asked the women's parents to rate their social skills, and learned that women with the maternal X were more often "lacking awareness of others' feelings" or "oblivious of the effect of their behavior" on other family members.

Researchers theorize that the gene that regulates social skills is only active on an X chromosome from the father. Once researchers locate the "Social" genes, they might be able to improve treatments for autism, attention-deficit disorder and other disorders found mostly in men.

Meanwhile, for normal men, "This gene may explain why women are more relationship-oriented, while men are more confident about knowing about basketball scores and cars," says John Gray, author of "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus."

No word yet on finding a gene for people who are just plain boring.