Suggest OddsThe State of Affairs: How Many People Cheat?
IStock Photo 6197201 © Annett Vauteck
Is he cheating? Is she cheating? Tied to emotions of doubt, sadness, suspicion, and anger—at some point this question has crossed the mind of almost anyone who has ever been in love. Although it seems nearly universal to fear a partner will be unfaithful, how many people actually cheat?
In the United States, the odds a man who has ever been married or is living with someone has cheated during the relationship are 1 in 4.76 (21%). For perspective, these are the same as the odds that an adult in the United States never uses swear words in conversation (1 in 4.76). For women, the odds are 1 in 9.09 (11%), the same as the odds that a woman in the United States owns a firearm. Before drawing a solid line between the cheaters and the non-cheaters, it’s interesting to note the gray area. Even a large number of people who aren’t cheating are thinking about it. The odds are 1 in 3.33 that an adult in the United States who has not cheated during a relationship fantasizes about cheating.
While the odds suggest that men are somewhat more likely to cheat than women, a small study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (PDF) in May 2009 suggests that women might be more likely than men to commit another relationship indiscretion—mate poaching. In fact, single women might be the likeliest to pursue mates who are already in relationships. Researchers based their study on the common complaint of single women: “All the good men are taken.” The study was fairly small but offers some support for the idea that single women are more likely to pursue men who are attached because the men have been “pre-screened” by other women. Similar behavior has also been studied in some animals. While some single people end up accidentally pursuing attached mates, others actively poach; singles can even be found eagerly searching for mates on dating websites geared towards married people.
“Life is short. Have an affair,” declares the front page of AshleyMadison.com, a dating website for married people. Websites like AshleyMadison.com, which launched in 2001, may facilitate cheating in the same way that Internet social networking has facilitated making new friends, but offline locations like the neighborhood and the workplace are still common origins of affairs. The odds an adult in the United States who has cheated during a marriage or live-in relationship did so with a neighbor are 1 in 6.67, and the odds are 1 in 2.7 that he or she cheated with a co-worker. The odds are even higher that he or she cheated with a friend: 1 in 1.45 (nearly 69%). Their motto must be: Life is short. Cheat close to home.
Comments (13)
alot of the ppl here talk about how males allways cheat , but females doing better, naver get cut. thats fk up, my wife was cheating with her boss , and cant i say, all you talk about how males doing it. guess what look at tha mire.
report abusePersonally if my bf cheated on me I wouldn’t give him a second chance once a cheater always a cheater.... Once someone realize they can get away with it and the other half didn’t find out they keep doing it. Personally these odd should be even girl can be suck sluts... most don’t have any morals at all and go after someone else man while the relationship is in rough times ... pretty ******* low they are what I like to call vultures ... and the men in relationship who look for those "sluts/vultures" wow ... well they are guys who also have no moral and discussed me ... these men are what I like to call the scum of the earth ... they also give bad name for the few and far between good guys. I think everyone thinks about cheating at one point but the good one don’t follow through. Think of cheating could be fantasying sexually about the hot neighbor or movie star or singer. The people who start to flirt with their fantasies if they are personally close could be potential cheater or if there love is strong enough it could be nothing and they just like the attention form others. Yes it does take two but not always one person could be giving there all in the relationship and well the other could be just sliding by and the slider would be the cheater and if you have lack communication with your better half then things fall apart both should be always giving there all. Now there are many ways of cheating in my mind the net or cell phones were the have a partner for siber sex which is pretty much emotional affair and strictly talking and imagining your with the other person, or physical where they follow through this there thoughts and actually do what they’ve been talking about with that other.
report abuseI'll blow my love's balls off if lova ever cheated on me. No more cheating.
report abuseThe "should I or shouldn't I?' question has been eating me up for a year now. I've got the opportunity, my S/O wouldn't find out, and I could do it without taking quality time away from her. Based on the golden rule I could go ahead and do it, since I don't mind if she has an affair (as long as it doesn't cut into my time with her). However, it's not okay with her, and that's important to me. Even if she never found out about it, I can't help but think that if I did something that would have hurt her, it would eat at me. On top of that, I have doubts as to whether I could really even go through with it, despite wanting to. I want to but I don't, I could but I can't. I don't care but I do. I just can't decide.
report abuseI don't have to worry about ever cheating because I believe in polyamory.
report abuseHmmm. Women outnumber men in the US 51% to 49%. 21% of males cheat, 11% of females cheat. Who are they cheating with? Are all men cheating with that 2% difference in the population, or is the female number way off? Or are 10% of the men having gay affairs?
report abuseThe concept of "cheating" is a femal construct.
report abuseIt's NOT in marriage vows and it is a bogus notion.
those that actually cheat think that there parter is cheating if in a long distance re. there thinking it is ok for then to cheat. Males have been thinking about and the way they can get away with cheating for many years but those how think about it dont really do it at all. its people how are to weak to stand by and just love there spouse and deal with there stress of it all cheat so the weaker of the one will cheat.
report abuseCan't stand the odds game...I'm not happy with tiger woods, he putts men in a bad position, I personally think women cheat more than men! Guys are on the come back for integrity and values. Alot more men are getting their children
report abuseback in court. Also it always takes two....
@BrittKenn
report abuseInterestingly, evolutionary psychology explains this phenomenon. The opposite is true of men who tend to be more offended by sexual indiscretion.
I think women cheat more than that. I just believe women have emotional affairs rather than physical ones, which is something to think about...
report abuseIf my husband cheated, I would rather him have a physical, one time, meant nothing, steamy sexual affair than an emotional affair.
Runescape fan - While I agree that the article shows an alarming number of people who are thinking about cheating, I don't get how you came to the conclusion of "most people think about cheating while in a relationship". If 1 in 3.33 DO think about cheating while in a relationship, that means that for every 1 person who thinks about it, 2.33 persons do not. Thus your claim of "most people think about cheating while in a relationship" is false. In fact, judging by the odds presented in the article, most people in a relationship DO NOT think about cheating. Hope that clears it up for ya.
report abuseTheir motto must be: Life is short. Cheat close to home.
report abuseRofl! pretty low odds.... wierd how most ppl think about cheating but don't actually cheat.