According to the General Social Survey, men are more likely to cheat than women, with 20% of men and 13% of women reporting having sex with someone other than their partner while still married.
Research from the past two decades shows that between 20 and 25 percent of married men cheat and between 10 and 15 percent of married women cheat, according to professor Nicholas Wolfinger. Read more here.
Research in the field of infidelity reveals that there are three distinct personality types correlated with a higher likelihood of cheating: sociopaths, narcissists, and lonely hearts.
In Denmark, close to 46 percent of people admit to sleeping with someone outside of the marriage. Germany and Italy are not far behind, where 45 percent of people who are married in both of these countries admit to committing infidelity.
Iceland is the country with the least number of cheaters (9%). Some people prefer one-night stands with strangers! In fact, most respondents from Thailand, France, Russia and Australia said they've slept with a stranger behind their partners back.
About 22 percent of men thought their partner had suspected them of cheating, compared to 40 percent of women. Finally, 39 percent of male cheaters said they eventually got caught, compared to almost 48 percent of women.
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.
Work: The number one place that people who cheat meet is work. They may be co-workers or there may be a client or customer relationship, but if you put unhappy people of the opposite sex in a situation where they are communicating about anything, it can lead to trouble. I think in all of these areas, the key is access.
Cheaters are impulsive, and can't resist taking that risk despite what it might cost them. Cheaters, like bullies, are fueled by power, and drawn to risk. This kind of behavior, however, is a reflection of something deeply rooted inside of them.
Previous research generally suggests that people are less likely not to cheat if they are in a good relationship and the costs of discovery are high, and more likely to cheat if they are in a poor relationship where the cost of discovery is low.
Perhaps they were unhappy in their current relationship, or they found infidelity exciting. It could be that their sexual needs were not being fulfilled, or that they have a sex addiction or trouble with commitment. Sometimes infidelity is the result of multiple poor choices, across a period of time.
Being insecure
Another reason why someone might cheat is because they are insecure. "Usually, in this scenario, the partner that wants to cheat is seeking out confirmation of their desirability," Winter told INSIDER. "And they use the reinforcement of a new person to bolster their own self-confidence."
Men are happier when they're married.
You could jump to two different conclusions based on those numbers: Women are unhappier in their marriages than men are. The unhappiness might be on par, but women are far less likely to put up with it.
A study of 495 people revealed eight key reasons: anger, low self-esteem, lack of love, low commitment, need for variety, neglect, sexual desire, and circumstance. 1 It's important to understand that these reasons arise within the cheater and are not the responsibility of the betrayed partner.
In case you didn't know it, sex can also make a baby. And that can be good for you. Studies show that people with kids living at home tend to have more money and are more highly educated and in better health.
The survey says that infidelity among men peaked at the age of 50 to 59 (31%). The number decreases as the men age during this period. For women, the highest infidelity rate is from ages 40 to 49 (18%), which declines as they age.
Being cheated on
Cheaters actually have a deep-seated fear of betrayal themselves. They often feel suspicious and rejected in relationships and use this as an excuse to step out on their partners. Cheating gives philandering folks a feeling of power and control in their lives and relationships.
Results of a 2005 study show that there is a significant difference between cheaters and non-cheaters when it comes to the Big Five model of personality traits. Poor self control, selfishness, anger, boredom, and attention-seeking are the most common reasons a person is unfaithful in their relationship.
The preferred meeting time is in the evening after 9pm
More than two-thirds of cheaters have been married for over 10 years, while 44 per cent said they have been having an affair for a year or less. The majority of those having a secret tryst said they contact their affair partner via text message.
The producers of Cheaters currently reiterate the reality of each episode in a legalistic message at its end, though a Federal Communications Commission representative confirmed to the Houston Press that "there's no law or regulation against presenting acted-out scenarios as reality on television."
A whole separate phone or SIM card
The most clever cheaters may use a separate phone or SIM card to keep phone communication discreet. A SIM card is especially devious because your partner can use the same device and then switch out the entire volume of data without anyone realizing it.
Terms such as “soft cheating”, “cyber infidelity”, and “micro-cheating” refer to less obvious means of cheating that are not traditionally thought of as infidelity but are ultimately dishonest and secretive.
Since cheating means different things to different people, it may not come as a surprise if someone says kissing does not count as cheating. In fact, according to a survey conducted by BBC Radio 5 Live, 73 per cent of women consider kissing as cheating but only 50 per cent men count it as an act of betrayal.
That's murkier. Official numbers are hard to come by—makes sense, given the secretive subject matter—but most indicate that somewhere between about 10 percent and 70 percent (yes, over two-thirds) of women have cheated.