A new study has come to the conclusion that women are designed to cheat.

Women are programmed through evolution to cheat, according to research from the University of Texas.

The process, dubbed 'mate switching', states that women are designed to have affairs in order to have a replacement mate in case their own partner goes missing or dies.

"Over human evolutionary history, bad things could happen to a woman’s existing long-term mate. He could become injured, diseased, killed, or decline in mate value," said Professor Davis Bluss, the author of the paper.

"Affairs serve several key functions," he continues.

"First, they serve as a form of mate insurance, keeping a backup mate in tow should a switch become warranted at some point in the future. Second, they allow opportunities for close-up assessment of an alternative mate, information that would be difficult or impossible to gauge from a distance."

The qualities a woman looks for in a mate are similar to that of a long-term partner, says Professor Bluss.

These include the affair mate being dependable, emotionally stable, successful, honest, intelligent, mature and unselfish.

A further study by Slater and Gordon showed that, if you're going to cheat, it will be on your summer holidays, with one in five Britons cheating on their partner while on holiday.

Online Editors