For years, relationship experts have studied the reasons for cheating and have come up with surprising insights into how different couples perceive infidelity, how they react to it, and how they recover from the loss of fidelity. These are the basic facts about cheating that you should know too!
These are scientifically proven facts about cheating that every couple should know.
1. If you are financially dependent on your partner, you are more likely to cheat on him.
A study from 2015 covered 2,800 people between the ages of 18 and 32. They found that those who are completely financially dependent on their partner are more likely to cheat. Especially if they are men: 15 percent of men who were completely financially dependent on their wives cheated on you, while in the reverse situation only 5 percent of women did.
2. Men and women react differently to flirting with other people.
A study from 2008 in Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes found that men who flirted outside of a relationship were less tolerant of flirting from their female partners. The opposite is true for women: after flirting themselves, it was easier for their partner to look through their fingers while doing the same.
3. Our well-being depends on the gender of the person with whom our partner cheated on us.
At Personal Relationship they passed research, in which people read hypothetical scenarios in which their partners cheated on them. The gender of the person with whom the partners cheated changed a lot. Men were angry and wanted to end the relationship if a woman got involved with a man, but if she got involved with a woman, the thought of it turned them on. Women reacted differently: if their partner got involved with a person of the same sex, they had an even greater desire to end the relationship.
4. We think everyone cheats… except our partner.
At Journal of Social and Personal Relationships found in 2015 that the average person has a 42 percent chance of cheating. At the same time, they were asked the opinion that there is only a 5% chance that their partner cheated on them in the past, and an 8% chance that they will in the future. In fact, only 9 percent admitted to infidelity.
5. Heterosexual men are more worried about physical infidelity, heterosexual women are more worried about emotional infidelity.
Research, published in Evolutionary Psychology, found that men would be very angry if a woman had sex with a man she was not in love with. Women would react differently here: they would be much sadder if a man fell in love with another woman with whom he did not even have sex.
6. Men are more likely to cheat before their milestone birthday.
It is in 2014 research found that men are more likely to jump the fence as their anniversary approaches. The same thing happens to women, except that the probability is lower.
7. Infidelity can also be influenced by your genes.
A study, conducted at the University of Queensland, came to the conclusion that people may also be biologically inclined to cheat. Infidelity was much more common in people who had a certain type of oxytocin and vasopressin receptors. Vasopressin is a hormone associated with social behavior that includes trust, empathy, and bonding during sex.
8. A relationship can recover even after infidelity.
M. Gary Neuman, author of the video program Creating Your Best Marriage, has 3 steps that can help heal a relationship:
1. The one who cheated must repent and show a desire to change.
2. The deceived person must convince himself that he will not be deceived again.
3. The cheated person should not ask what exactly is happening between the partner and the person with whom he cheated.
9. Today, the possibility of a woman cheating is higher.
Although men are still thought to be the ones who cheat more often, New York Magazine revealed that women are almost as likely to cheat (or already are). V studies from 2011, 23 percent of men and 19 percent of women in heterosexual relationships admitted to cheating on their partner.
10. Younger people cheat less.
After analysis, conducted by Nicholas Wolfinger of the Institute for Family Studies, found that the most naughty people are over 55. Wolfinger estimates that this is a consequence of the sexual revolution of the 1950s and 1960s.
11. Emotional affairs are more and more common.
Researchers at American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy came to the conclusion that emotional affairs are increasingly common. As many as 45 percent of men and 35 percent of women admitted that they had already had an emotional affair. Only 20 percent of people admitted that they would rather just have sex.
12. Morality is the main reason married people don't cheat.
A study from this year notes that it is morality that protects married people from infidelity. Other reasons are: children, fear of loneliness, other people. Morality is strongest among believers, and those less pious people cite children as the main reason.
13. Those who have been unfaithful before are more likely to cheat.
V studies, published in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour, involved 500 adults in heterosexual relationships. Those who have cheated once are three times more likely to cheat again in the next relationship. Those who were deceived in the past remained suspicious.
