The Who, What, Where, When, And Why of Cheating

THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, AND WHY OF CHEATING Infidelity is one of the most commonly cited reasons for divorce in the U.S. – but what exactly constitutes cheating? Who's doing it and how often? Here are the hard facts on the ins and outs of extramarital affairs. WHO IS MORE LIKELY TO CHEAT? People who are narcissists People whose parents cheated People who have the "cheating gene" Men who have large testicles OH BABY.. People who are insecure about their spouse People who fake orgasms Women with husbands who have large penises Men who have deeper voices Sources: James K McNulty, Laura Widman, "Sexual Narcissism and Infidelity in Early Marriage", Archives of Sexual Behavior; 2014 "Associations between Dopamine D4 Receptor Gene Variation with Both Infidelity and Sexual al Partnerships among Women Married to Fishermen along Lake Victoria in Kisumu County, Kenya", PlosONE; "Attachment insecurity and infidelity in marriage: Do studies of dating relationships really inform us about nag ournal or Family Plychology. Ryan M. Ellsworth and Drew H. Bailey, "Human Female Orgasm as Evolved Signal", Archives survey by llicit Encounters; Justin marriage?", Jillian O'Connor, "Perceptions of infidelity risk predict women's preferences for low male voice pitch in short-term over long-term relationship contexts, Evolutionary Psychology, Professor Petter Backman, University of Oslo WHAT IS CONSIDERED CHEATING? WOMEN MEN Think Think EMOTIONAL SEXUAL cheating is worse cheating is worse Believe passionately kissing someone else is cheating 90% 75% 68% 51% Believe sending flirty text messages is cheating Sources: Gary L. Brase, "Explaining Sex Differences in Reactions to Relationship Infidelities", Evolutionary Psychology: 2014 survey conducted by Christian Mingle and JDate of 2,600 single, U.S. adults WHERE DO PEOPLE CHEAT? CITIES WITH THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF CHEATERS DC 6 OKLAHOMA CITY 2 HOUSTON 7 PHOENIX 3 MIAMI 8 NEW YORK Chicago has the most active online cheaters 4 PITTSBURGH 9 CHICAGO 5 LOS ANGELES 10 BOSTON 68% of adulterers conduct their illicit activities at work, spending an average of 1.17 hours per day doing so Sources: Membership data from Ashley Madison; 2014 survey from Victoria Milan of 4,000 active members WHEN DO PEOPLE CHEAT? Wednesday is the most popular day for people to cheat SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY More unethical behavior happens in the afternoon Sources: 2014 Ashley Madison survey of 172,000 active, online users; "The Morning Morality Effect: The Influence of Time of Day on Unethical Behavior", Psychological Science WHY DO PEOPLE CHEAT? 20% 35% 56% 34% of cheating women said it's because of cheating single moms it's to spice things up of men who cheated of women who cheated they're in a sexless marriage actually rated their marriage "happy"or "very happy" tually rated their marriage "happy"or "very happy" WOMEN CHEAT BECAUSE MEN CHEAT BECAUSE They are attracted to the person They want more sex than they are getting 44% 48% They need to reaffirm desirability They want more variety of sex 32% 47% Sources: 2014 Ashley Madison survey of 74,600 members; 2014 Victoria Milan survey: Dr. Helen Fisher, "Infidelity: when, where, why," via WR Cupach and BH Spitzberg, The Dark Side of Close Relationships II; ELLE/MSNBC HOW DO YOU MOVE ON? Cheaters are more likely to forgive other cheaters SET DATE NIGHTS COME FORGIVE YOUR CLEAN PARTNER Sources: "Infidelity and behavioral couple therapy: Relationship outcomes over 5 years following therapy," Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice; "Recovery from infidelity: Differentiation of self, trauma, forgiveness, and post traumatic growth among couples in continuing relationships," Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, Mar 2014, "The Date Night Opportunity", National Marriage Project