"I want that one!"

I reckon it is highly unlikely that the Pussycat Dolls were inviting further academic research to be carried out into the evolutionary psychological factors behind romantic relationships when they asked "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?"

Aside from producing a memorable tune and even more memorable video, it seems that they did, however, have a point.

Yes, we do wish our girlfriends were as "hot" as the unattainable sirens of the screen, catwalk and MTV and researchers in America can prove it.

Scientists with too much time and government funding on their hands at the McMasters universities took 87 attached male volunteers of varied ages and split them into two groups, with one lot placed in a room full of pictures of lingerie models and the others in a room where the walls were covered simply with abstract art.

The chaps were then asked a series of questions about the physical attractiveness and intelligence levels of their own partners.

Not surprisingly, those who had been exposed to nothing more than a series of barely-dressed beauties over the previous hour rated their girlfriends or wives lower than those who had simply admired works of art.

And yes, the scientists also did a similar study with female volunteers which produced exactly the same outcome.

According to Martin Lalumiere, the associate professor in the behaviour and evolution research group at the University of Lethbridge: "This study has important consequences for better understanding romantic dynamics, and perhaps for helping people have more realistic expectations about romantic relationships."

While this may well be big news among boffins, for most people it will simply confirm what we already know; that it is almost impossible not to have bad thoughts while watching Sweden against Brazil in the women's beach volleyball championships while sat alongside your pyjama-wearing cheesy crisp eating girlfriend on a rainy Friday night.

It's pretty much accepted that our partners are likely to be doing likewise and, really, who can blame them?

In the modern world we are constantly bombarded with images of impossibly beautiful men and women and as such a certain amount of harmless fantasizing is always going to occur.

The important thing to remember, though, is to keep your thoughts to yourself.

Simply shrug and say you hadn't noticed when your partner points out how attractive a celebrity is and agree that, yes, she does look too thin and, at her age, she ought to be wearing more conservative clothing.

It's all common sense really, and you certainly don't need to be a brain scientist to know that personal fantasies should remain just that.