Are you guilty of faking an orgasm? You can probably get away with it on a one-night stand, but your partner can always tell when you’re faking it. A study conducted at the University of Waterloo has revealed men and women involved in a heterosexual relationship are quite adept at perceiving their partners’ level of sexual satisfaction.

"We found that, on average, both men and women have fairly accurate and unbiased perceptions of their partners' sexual satisfaction," Ph.D. candidate from the Department of Psychology at Waterloo, Erin Fallis, said in a statement. "We also found that having good communication about sexual issues helped participants to understand their partners' sexual satisfaction. However, even if sexual communication was lacking, a person could still be fairly accurate in gauging his or her partner's sexual satisfaction if he or she was able to read emotions well."

Fallis and her colleagues from the university recruited 84 heterosexual couples participating in a large scale study based on sexual function and sexual satisfaction. Without the involvement of their partner, each participant was asked to report on their level of sexual communication, sexual satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, commitment, and their ability to recognize emotions.

Out of the relationship factors each participant was asked to report on, the research team identified sexual communication and the ability to recognize emotions as playing instrumental roles in gauging their partner’s sexual satisfaction. Researchers hope their findings will help dispel common misconceptions surrounding men and women’s ability to communicate and understand each other both on a sexual and emotional level.

"Over time, a couple will develop sexual routines," Fallis explained. "We believe that having the ability to accurately gauge each other's sexual satisfaction will help partners to develop sexual scripts that they both enjoy. Specifically, being able to tell if their partners are sexually satisfied will help people decide whether to stick with a current routine or try something new."

According to The Kinsey Institute, 75 percent of men and 29 percent of women report constant orgasms when engaging in sexual intercourse with their partner. Compared to the 64 percent of women who reported having an orgasm during their most recent sexual experience, 85 percent of men said their partner had an orgasm the last time they were intimate. Surprisingly, only 40 percent of men and women said they were pleased with both physical and emotional satisfaction within a relationship.

"The next step in this research is to look at the impacts of having more or less accurate perceptions of one's partner's sexual satisfaction over time in long-term relationships," Fallis added. "We expect that having a more accurate understanding of one's partner's sexual satisfaction will have positive impacts for both partners' sexual satisfaction and we're eager to test this idea."

Source: Purdon C, Rehman U, Fallis E. Perceptions of Partner Sexual Satisfaction in Heterosexual Committed Relationships. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2014.