A common storyline in movies and television shows "revenge" or "rebound" sex --- when a jilted lover dives under the sheets with someone new, often a total stranger --- actually happens more than 25 percent of the time in real life.

So says a research team at the University of Missouri, which recruited 170 undergraduate students who had ended romantic relationships within a year and directed them to fill out weekly reports detailing how they were feeling about their exes and if they had sex with anyone.

The resulting data showed an estimated 25 to 30 percent of the respondents indicated they did indeed have sex to either get back at their partners -- in other words, revenge sex-or to rebound from the relationship within the first four weeks after their breakup.

The findings were published earlier this week in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.

"Having sex to get over your partner was somewhat more common than having sex to get back at a partner," said study co-author M. Lynne Cooper, a psychology professor at the university. Both men and women, she added, looked to ease their heartache with sex.

"Most of our participants were college freshmen who had just broken up with their high school sweethearts," Cooper said. "It's a highly emotional time, moving away and adjusting to college so we're not sure these results can be generalized to an older population of singles."

Some of the study's findings were seen in other polls involving older adults.

It was determined students who were dumped or highly distressed by their failed relationships were more likely to use sex to temper their anger or find comfort.

As well, the research showed it took students more time to get over long-term relationships that lasted a year or more and, as a result, led to a greater number of casual sex encounters.

Cooper indicated that of the two-thirds of the research participants who reported having sex during the 10-week study, 20 percent reported having sex with their ex-partner, 26 percent with a new lover and 54 percent said had sex with someone they had met before their breakups.

While the researchers didn't identify specific personality traits that prompted people to seek out revenge sex, Cooper said the study suggested such behavior would be more likely from individuals with neurotic or hostile personalities and predominant feelings of anger, low self-esteem, and pessimism.

"They may have sex to cope with negative emotions or to assure themselves that they're still attractive," she said.

Copper said planning future studies to determine which people would be most likely to benefit from self-affirming, ego-stroking sex.

Ultimately, the researchers deduced from the findings that revenge or rebound sex generally doesn't prove helpful in mending a broken heart, but, said Cooper, "that doesn't mean it couldn't be under certain circumstances."