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FOR men who think they are rather good in the bedroom, this is bad news.

Almost half of men are wrong about how often their wives have an orgasm – and faking it may be part of the problem, according to US researchers.

In a quarter of cases, men overestimate how often their wife climaxes, according to the study of almost 1,700 newlywed couples by Brigham Young University in Utah.

Women whose husbands don’t know how often it occurs tend to be unhappier in their sex lives and relationships. And couples who talk about sex are happier in their relationship, the research found.

The study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, states: ‘Reasons for misperception range from a general lack of knowledge surrounding orgasm and sexuality to women faking orgasm – either to affirm men’s masculine skills or simply wanting sex to end.’

Researchers asked women how often they had an orgasm during sex. Responses were measured on a scale from one to five, with one meaning between 0 and 20 per cent of the time. Five meant women climaxed between 80 and 100 per cent of the time.

Men were asked to provide the same score for their wives, but were wrong in 43 per cent of cases. While 25 per cent of them overestimated how often their wife climaxed, 17 per cent underestimated the figure.

The results also showed that one in five women orgasm less than 40 per cent of the time, compared to just 3 per cent of men. Only one in seven women misjudged how often their husband climaxed.