Women in their 60s report the highest rate of infidelity (16%), but the share goes down sharply among women in their 70s and 80s. By comparison, the infidelity rate among men in their 70s is the highest (26%), and it remains high among men ages 80 and older (24%).
Men in their 60s report having a higher rate of infidelity (24%), with the number still increasing until ages 70-79, with 26% of men cheating on their partners. Women, on the other hand, have the highest rate of infidelity in their 60s (16%), but the number goes down as they approach their 70s (13%) and 80s (6%).
Men cheat more than women at almost every age.
More middle-aged people cheat overall, and men report the highest level of cheating in their 70s. Women report the highest rates of infidelity in their 60s, with 16% of 60- to 69-year-olds reporting to have had sex outside of marriage.
Cheating Has Become a Norm
About 20 percent of people aged 55 and over describe their marriages as at least “nominally adulterous.” In other words, about 20 percent of married people who are 55 and up cheat sometimes. Many older married people cheat even more.
First and foremost, the study crunched some numbers and found that the average age women marry at is 29 years old. Next, they found that the average age women cheat is 36.6 years old, which means the spark of fidelity and passion begins to dwindle about six to seven years after the wedding.
When you put the data together, about 15-20% of married couples cheat. The rate of cheating increases with age for both married men and married women. In a study titled America's Generation Gap in Extramarital Affairs, 20% of older couples noted that they had cheated during their marriage.
For men, the peak age for cheating is 55 years old.
After those ages the likelihood of infidelity tends to decline.
According to estimates based on married couples, approximately 25% of men admit to cheating on their spouse at some point, while around 15% of women admit to the same. Another study found that up to 4% of married individuals had cheated on their spouse in the past year.
The good news is that most people will still make it out of the gym without falling into an extramarital affair. Unfortunately, however, the risk of infidelity doesn't end there. Getting in good shape will make your partner more likely to cheat, simply because it makes them more attractive.
The researchers also found that people who were high on conscientious reported that being satisfied with their relationship, feeling guilty, fear that this would happen to them, and feeling ashamed if it got out as reasons deterring them from cheating, compared to those who were lower on conscientious.
A man can cheat and still love his wife.
The roller coaster of emotions that follows the discovery of his infidelity can be excruciating for both of you. It is entirely normal to experience intense emotional pain in response to infidelity. You may feel like running away or want to know everything about the other woman.
Iceland is the country with the least number of cheaters (9%). Some people prefer one-night stands with strangers!
According to a survey of 1,000 people on how affairs get exposed, 39% of the respondents said they were caught when their partner read a message or two on their phones.
Infidelity is associated with: previous cheating; relationship boredom, dissatisfaction, and duration; expectations of imminent break-ups; and low-frequency, poor-quality partner sex. Among men, risk also increases when partners are pregnant or there are infants in the house.
Women are most likely to cheat on their spouse in years 6-10 of their marriage, while men are more likely to cheat after year 11 of their marriage. (There's even a day of the week when someone is more likely to cheat.) The factors that played the largest role in cheating were gender, religiosity, and marriage length.
In this new study, 45 percent of individuals who reported cheating on their partner in the first relationship reported also doing so in the second. Among those who had not cheated in the first, far fewer (18 percent) cheated in the second.
Have Men Always Cheated More? According to the Institute for Family Studies, “men are more likely than women to cheat: 20% of men and 13% of women reported that they've had sex with someone other than their spouse while married, according to data from the recent General Social Survey.”
If men aren't sexually satisfied (for instance, if their spouse declines sex often), they take that rejection to heart, and it can easily translate to feeling "unloved." In fact, men are more likely than women to cheat due to a feeling of insecurity. When women cheat, they're often trying to fill an emotional void.
Those who cheat for relationship reasons do so because they don't feel satisfied. "Researchers find that partnerships characterized by dissatisfaction, unfulfilling sex, and high conflict are at higher risk for infidelity," she says.
In general, men are more likely than women to cheat: 20% of men and 13% of women reported that they've had sex with someone other than their spouse while married, according to data from the recent General Social Survey(GSS). However, as the figure above indicates, this gender gap varies by age.
Infidelity does not mean that the love is gone or never existed. The reality is that you can love someone and still cheat on them. In fact, many affairs happen in relationships that are otherwise very happy.
There are many potential reasons why a person may cheat. There are eight key reasons and motivations for affairs, including low self-esteem, anger, low commitment, lack of love, neglect, sexual desire, need for variety, and circumstances.
Those in the relationship who started from an affair may eventually feel less satisfied, less invested, and less committed to the happiness of the other person. Furthermore, people who cheated on a spouse or partner will often seek to cheat again. On average, affairs usually end within 6 months to 2 years.
57% of men overall admit to committing infidelity at some point in their lives. 54% of women overall admit to committing infidelity in one or more of their relationships. 22% of married men admit to having an affair at least once during their marriages.
Ultimately, there is no set formula for whether you should stay together or not. You and your partner will need to decide both individually and together if there are enough positive elements in your relationship to make the difficult work of healing worthwhile.