New research explores why people cheat on their spouses. This cross-cultural research shows three consistent findings:
- Love for a spouse makes people less likely to cheat.
- Finding other people attractive makes people more likely to cheat.
- Thinking that one’s spouse is cheating makes people more likely to cheat.
Essentially, love for a spouse helps prevent against infidelity, but being attracted to other people and thinking that your spouse is cheating is associated with higher levels of infidelity.
More information on predictors of cheating.
Source: Nowak, N. T., Weisfeld, G. E., Imamoğlu, O., Weisfeld, C. C., Butovskaya, M., & Shen, J. (2014). Attractiveness and Spousal Infidelity as Predictors of Infidelity in Couples from Five Cultures. Human Ethology Bulletin, 29(1), 18-38.
