Updated on Sunday, June 29, 2008, 00:00 IST

London, June 29: Men may cherish casual sex, but women don't enjoy brief sexual encounters -- in fact they feel "used" after an one-night stand, a new study has found.

According to researchers, though the sexual revolution was meant to free women to enjoy casual sex just as men always had, the study has suggested that after one-night stands they are not well adapted to the brief sexual encounters.

The study found that men are more likely to reproduce and benefit from numerous short-term partners, but for women, quality seems to be more important than quantity, the 'human nature' journal reported.

Lead researcher Professor Anne Campbell said, "Although women do not rate casual sex positively, the reason they stilltake part in it may be due to the menstrual cycle changes influencing their sexual motivation."

In their study, the researchers at Durham University conducted an online survey of 1,743 men and women who had a one-night stand -- the participants were asked to rate their positive and negative feelings the next morning.

Overall women's feelings were more negative than men's. Eighty percent of men had overall positive feelings about the experience compared to 54 percent of women, the researchers found.

Men were more likely than women to secretly want their friends to hear about it and to feel successful that their partnerwas desirable to others. Men reported greater satisfaction and contentment following the event, as well as a greater sense of well being and confidence about themselves.

However, the predominant negative feeling reported by women was regret at having been "used" -- they were also more likely to feel they had let themselves down and were worried about the potential damage to their reputation if others knew.

Moreover, women found the experience less sexually satisfying and, contrary to popular belief, they did not seem to view taking part in casual sex as a prelude to long-term relationships, the study revealed.

Bureau Report