Scientists say bed-hoppers score far lower in intelligence tests than those who stick with one woman.

Psychologist Dr Satoshi Kanazawa came up with the theory after studying the history of male sexual behaviour. He found that men have always tended to stray, but it is only in relatively recent times that cheating has become unacceptable.

And he believes staying with one lover means blokes are more evolved and therefore cleverer.

The news will leave famous love cheats like former England captain John Terry, 29, and Ashley Cole, 29, as well as golf star Woods, 34, and actor Law, 37, wondering about the state of their little grey cells.

But the theory does not apply to women because society has always expected them to stay faithful.

Dr Kanazawa, of the London School of Economics and Political Science, said: Intelligent men are more likely to value sexual exclusivity than less intelligent men.

He went on to look at whether intelligence affects peoples political views or belief in God.

He found people who described themselves as very liberal had an average IQ of 106, while those who described themselves as very conservative only managed 95.

And non-believers got higher IQ scores than religious people.

Dr Kanazawa said this showed smarter people were more open to new ideas.

He added: Humans are evolutionarily designed to believe in God because they are paranoid.

This served humans well when self-preservation and protection of their families and clans depended on vigilance to potential dangers.

More intelligent children are likely to grow up to go against their natural evolutionary tendency to believe in God.