A new study has found that women who fake orgasms are more likely to cheat on their partners.

Researchers surveyed 138 female and 121 male undergraduate college students who were involved in heterosexual romantic relationships. They found that women’s orgasm frequency and intensity was not related to whether they had ever cheated or whether they would cheat in the future. However, they did find that cheating was related to the number of faked orgasms a woman had.

“The more orgasms a woman had faked, the more likely she was to have cheated previously and the greater her likelihood of cheating again,” Dr. Justin Lehmiller, who analyzed the findings, wrote on his blog, The Psychology of Human Sexuality.

The female participants were asked a series of questions, including ones about the intensity and frequency of their orgasms. Their male partners were also asked about their perception of the orgasms and their intensity.

The researchers found that orgasms were not associated with their partner's past or future infidelity. And study authors believe that cheating was not based on how many orgasms women were having, but instead, the frequency with which they faked one. It also showed that men were at a disadvantage because they were not able to predict their partner’s likelihood of being faithful, because they could not tell if their partners were faking orgasms.

While it may not be new information, the study also found that faking orgasms was more common among women than men. Roughly 18 percent of women said that they had faked an orgasm to spare their partner's feelings. Men, on the other hand, faked it only five percent of the time. Almost one in six women questioned admitted to cheating, whereas about one in four men admitted to cheating. Researchers also found that men were more likely to stay with a partner who had consistent orgasms.

Reasons for faking an orgasm could include sexual dissatisfaction; the inability to communicate openly with a partner about sexual needs; or also that women are unable to express pleasure, according to another study from 2011.

“This is a study about the inability of women to actually communicate to their partners about what turns them on and what doesn't,” Pamela Madsen, a fertility and sex educator, wrote in a Psychology Today article.

Leahmiller believes that orgasms have important implications for relationships. “Women who orgasmed more frequently reported that their male partners were more invested in the relationship.”

Source: Ellsworth, R. M., & Bailey, D. H. Human female orgasm as evolved signal: A test of two hypotheses. Archives of Sexual Behavior.