Infidelity Fast Facts: Oh, the lies we tell to interviewers, yet cheating men 5 percent, women 3

Posted on March 13, 2010
Filed Under Infidelity, Marriage | Leave a Comment

All credible research says that infidelity is NOT on the rise, except for a slight rise in younger women and men over 60. So you may want to look for ways to love in your marriage and stop searching for cheater clues.

Here is an example as to why it is so difficult to get authoritative figures and why you can trust these academic researchers — look at the numbers and their comparison figures.

Several years ago (May 2007) two researches did a study to determine:

Prevalence of infidelity among women*
Whether or not truth differed from face-to-face interviews versus computer answers

Numbers involved: 4,884 women

Research reported in: Journal of Family Psychology

The findings face-to-face: Just 1 percent of the women admitted to infidelity (1.08%).

Computer findings: The findings when the same question was asked of the women using computer-assisted self-interview (6.13% )

The results: When it comes to infidelity, determining the truth is difficult.

The researches: Mark Whisman, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Boulder

Douglas K. Snyder, PhD Professor, Clinical Psychology, Texas A and M University

What they proposed: “This study’s findings underscore the importance of assessing infidelity with methods such as computer-assisted self-interviews that minimize the influence of social desirability and impression management.” Oftentimes those interviewed answer the question in a way that they think will please the person who is interviewing them! FHA – Sexual infidelity in a national survey of American women

Prevalence = total number of cases of the infidelity with this population at this specific time.

(Total number of cases in the population, divided by the number of individuals in the population which is simple math — 1% of 4884 women means that approximately 49 admitted to cheating during the face to face interview)

ABOUT LOVE

Since we do not know many factors set the stage for infidelity at a particular time – husbands should be looking for love signs not infidelity clues. But in the event it happens, consider the forgiveness factor and seek the help of a marriage counselor to save your relationship.

This study is consistent with the NORC findings discussed in the link below.