When it comes to infidelity, men are more likely to cheat on their spouses, but at the same time, they are more likely to catch out their partner cheating, a study published in New Scientists magazine reveals.

Paul Andrews, from Virginia Commonwealth University in Virginia tested fidelity among 203 young couples by giving them confidential questionnaires, which asked them to detail if they had ever been unfaithful and if they had ever suspected or discovered that their partner had strayed.

The findings show that 29 percent of men admitted that they had cheated compared to only 18.5 percent of women. But when it comes to detecting whether their partner had cheated on them, men detected 75 percent of the reported infidelities, while just 41 percent of women uncovered that their partner had been unfaithful. However, the study showed that men were more likely to suspect their partner of infidelity when it wasn’t even the case.

“We found that, if everyone was being truthful in their answers, it was the men who were more accurate. But we also found that men tended to suspect infidelity when there wasn't any,” Dr Andrews said.

Should this be the reason for which women have evolved to become better at hiding their indiscretions than men? It seems so, as analysis of the results showed an extra 10 percent of the women in the study had cheated on their partners, in addition to the 18.5 percent who admitted to it, whereas the men had been honest about their cheating. Women seem more reticent in disclosing whether they had cheated or not, but they appear to be so much better at hiding their infidelity whereas men are better at detecting infidelity, Dr. Andrews said.

Men’s suspicious mind is a consequence of evolution, he explains, and the fact that over time men have never been able to be certain that a child is theirs.

“Men have far more at stake. When a female partner is unfaithful, a man may himself lose the opportunity to reproduce, and find himself investing his resources in raising the offspring of another man.”

The study was sponsored by the National Science Foundation.