New York, Aug 14 (IANS): It may sound peculiar but listening to your clock ticking may increase your urge to marry and start a family before childbearing years are over.

The subtle sound of a ticking clock can speed up a woman's reproductive timing, says an interesting study.

Reproductive timing refers to the time frame and the specific years during which people begin to focus their energy and resources towards bearing and caring for their offspring.

"The very subtle sound prime of a ticking clock changed the timing with which women sought to have children and the traits they sought in potential partners - both central aspects of women's mating-related psychology," said study co-author Justin Moss from Florida State University.

For the study, the researchers completed two experiments to test the influence of a subtle environmental factor - the ticking of a small white kitchen clock - on people's reproductive timing attitudes.

Priming the idea of the passage of time through the sound of a ticking clock can influence various aspects of women's reproductive timing, the findings showed.

However, the ticking of the clock did not do the same for men.

"The findings suggest that a woman's childhood years can interact with subtle environmental stimuli to affect her reproductive timing during adulthood," co-researcher Jon Maner from Florida State University added.

The study appeared in Springer's journal Human Nature.