Study: Men And Women Have Different Views On Infidelity
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – It's no secret that men and women see some things very differently, and a new study seems to back that up when it comes to infidelity.
The research, out of Chapman University and published in Archives of Sexual Behavior, asked about 65,000 Americans to imagine what would make them more upset: imagining their partner having sex with someone else but not falling in love with that person, or imagining their partners falling in love with someone else but not getting physically involved with that person.
Apparently, heterosexual men were much more likely to be upset about the sexual infidelity (without love) while heterosexual women said the emotional infidelity was worse. Fifty-four-percent of hetero-men said sexual infidelity was more upsetting than emotional, compared to just 35 percent of women. And while 65 percent of hetero-females said emotional infidelity was worse, just 46 percent of men agreed. Bisexual men and women did not differ much in their views, nor did lesbians or gay men.
"Heterosexual men really stand out from all other groups: they were the only ones who were much more likely to be most upset by sexual infidelity rather than emotional infidelity," added David Frederick, Ph.D., and lead author on the study, on the Chapman University blog.
The study's authors chalk the findings up to evolution and say men face a problem women do not: paternal uncertainty. They also note that their study results were consistent regardless of income level, relationship lengths, age, history of infidelity, having been cheated on, etc. Interestingly, younger people were more likely to be upset by sexual infidelity than older subjects.
Researchers say their findings "present strong evidence that a gender difference exists in a broad sample of U.S. adults, but only among heterosexuals." They also say their study is important because it looked at a broad sample of Americans rather than just a small, homogenous group.
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