New research published in the scientific journal Sexual and Relationship Therapy investigated why some men fake having an orgasm.

About half of women have admitted to faking an orgasm, and some research suggests that 17 to 25 percent of men have done so as well. Though researchers have examined women’s motives for faking an orgasm, similar research has not been carried out with men until now.

“No study to date has thoroughly investigated men’s motivations for feigning orgasm, or how these motives might be related to sexual and relationship satisfaction and sexual desire,” Canadian researchers Léa J. Séguin and Robin R. Milhausen wrote in the new study.

The researchers used an online survey to question 230 Canadian and American men, age 18 to 29, who had faked having an orgasm at least once. The participants had been in relationship for at least 4 months.

The men in the study reported faking an orgasm in about 30 percent of sexual encounters and during all types of sexual activity. Faking during penile-vaginal intercourse was most common, followed by oral sex, anal intercourse, and manual stimulation.

Men had different motivations for pretending to orgasm. The participants were most likely to fake an orgasm to help their partner’s self-esteem and least likely to fake because the sex was unappealing. Some men also faked orgasm to feel or appear sexy, because they were intoxicated, or because they were insecure about upsetting their partner.

Overall, the more often a man faked orgasms with his partner, the higher were his reported levels of satisfaction, the researchers found. Men who were satisfied with their relationship – both sexually and romantically – tended to fake orgasms to make their partner happy, or because they wanted to feign a “mutual orgasm” coinciding with their partner’s orgasm.

“Men who often pretend orgasm with their partner may be motivated to do so for their partner’s sake, which ultimately may be motivated by their happiness or satisfaction with their relationship,” Séguin and Milhausen said.

But this wasn’t true for all participants. Men also faked orgasms because they were dissatisfied with sex or their partner. Men who reported faking an orgasm for these reasons were more likely to also report being less satisfied with their relationship.

“When orgasm is simulated because the sex is not satisfying, or because the partner is not desired, men can be encouraged to explore ways to enhance pleasure in sex, or to communicate with their partners about activities which they ﬁnd arousing and satisfying,” the researchers recommended.

The study, titled “Not all fakes are created equal: examining the relationships between men’s motives for pretending orgasm and levels of sexual desire, and relationship and sexual satisfaction,” was published on March 16, 2016.