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Women really are the "fairer sex," according to new research. A new study reveals that women are more likely than men to condemn and less likely to participate in political corruption.

Political science researchers from Rice University note that the finding is only true in countries where corruption is stigmatized.

Researchers found that women living in counties with democratic governments where appropriating public policy for private gain is punished by voters and courts are less tolerant of corrupt behavior compared to their male counterparts.

"The relationship between gender and corruption appears to depend on context," lead researcher Justin Esarey, an assistant professor of political science at Rice University, said in a news release.

"When corruption is stigmatized, as in most democracies, women will be less tolerant and less likely to engage in it compared with men. But if 'corrupt' behaviors are an ordinary part of governance supported by political institutions, there will be no corruption gender gap," Esarey explained.

Previous studies found that greater female participation in government is associated with lower levels of perceived corruption. However, the latest study reveals that this relationship does not exist in autocracies. Researchers say this may be because women might feel more compelled to go along with the status quo than challenge the system.

"States that have more corruption tend to be less democratic," Esarey said. "In autocracies, bribery, favoritism and personal loyalty are often characteristic of normal government operations and are not labeled as corruption."

Researchers believe that many women may feel bound by their society's political norms, even when they make decisions as government officials.

"In short, recruiting women into government would be unlikely to reduce corruption across the board," Esarey said.

The latest research involved two parts. The first part of the study, researchers used data from three organizations, Transparency International, the World Bank Governance Indicators and the International Crisis Risk Group, to evaluate corruption at the national level for 157 countries between 1998 and 2007.  The second part of the study used data from the World Values Survey (WVS), which surveys how much people tolerate corruption on an individual level in 68 countries between 1999 and 2002.