Women fake their orgasms in a bid to stop their partners from cheating, a new study has revealed.

The research by Columbia University in New York and Oakland University of Michigan questioned 453 women who had been in a relationship for at least six months.

It was found that pretending to orgasm was the most popular strategy employed by a woman to keep her partner from straying.

But those who faked it were also more likely to use other tactics such as dressing up in the bedroom and keeping tabs on their partners' whereabouts.

More than half (53.9%) of the women questioned admitted to faking their orgasms with this group being the most likely to be suspicious of their partners' fidelity.

"One particular reason that emerges from a lot of studies is 'to keep my partner interested in this relationship', or 'to prevent him from defecting from the relationship or leaving the relationship for another woman,'" said researcher Farnaz Kaighobadi.

The report, compiled by Farnaz Kaighobadi of Columbia University in New York state, Todd Shackelford and Viviana Weekes-Shackelford, from Oakland University in Michigan, was published in The Archive of Sexual Behavior

To find out what happens when a woman experiences the real deal, take a look at the effect of an orgasm on the female brain.