No point in faking orgasm, study suggests

Even in long-term relationships, some women admit to faking orgasm from time to time. However, according to the study published in the April issue of the Archives of Sexual Behavior, men and women are relatively good at evaluating their partners' actual level of sexual satisfaction.

The study looked at 84 married or cohabiting heterosexual couples who were part of a larger study on sexuality and satisfaction. Each partner was asked to evaluate his or her level of commitment, sexual satisfaction, sexual communication and overall relationship satisfaction in a questionnaire. The researchers also tested each individual's ability to recognize emotions.

PhD candidate Erin E. Fallis, the study's lead author, says: "We found that, on average, both men and women have fairly accurate and unbiased perceptions of their partners' sexual satisfaction."

The findings place a dent in the popular misconception that men and women are inherently poor at communicating. According to Fallis and her co-authors, Professor Uzma S. Rehman and Professor Christine Purdon, the findings also underscored the importance of communication in a healthy sexual relationship.

"We also found that having good communication about sexual issues helped participants to understand their partners' sexual satisfaction," said Fallis. "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."