Infidelity is contagious claims new study

Surveys estimate that infidelity is actually not uncommon in both men and women. Research also suggests that up to 75 per cent of men and 68 per cent of women have cheated in some way, the Daily Mail reports.

Now a study by researchers from Reichman University has revealed that infidelity can be contagious. The study claims that people are more likely to cheat if they know others are having affairs too.

While previous studies have looked at the determinants of infidelity, they have reportedly mainly focused on individual and relationship characteristics.

But in the new study, the researchers were keen to understand whether external circumstances also increases the likelihood of cheating.

Psychology Today informs that in the study that was published this month in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior – researchers Birnbaum and colleagues (2022) set out to examine whether individuals who learned about others’ unfaithful behaviour were subsequently inclined to be unfaithful in their own romantic relationships.

“Relationships do not exist in a vacuum,” the researchers explained in their study.

They add, “As such, their functioning is likely affected by the social context as much as by internal forces.”

Thus, the authors of the study reportedly proposed that “knowing that others are having extradyadic affairs may make people feel more comfortable when having such affairs themselves.”

Extradyadic refers to a wide range of behaviors that occurs outside of a committed relationship.

Therefore, to test their predictions, the researchers reportedly conducted three separate studies that included participants in heterosexual monogamous relationships.

In the first study, 145 participants were made to watch a video citing studies on the percentage of people who had been unfaithful to their partners.

While some participants were informed that the figure was 86 per cent, other participants were told that the figure was 11 per cent.

After watching the video, participants were asked to describe a sexual fantasy involving someone other than their present partner.

Researchers reportedly coded these fantasies (for expressions of sexual desire) for the current and the alternate partners.

It was found that (based on the results) that hearing about a higher occurrence of infidelity (did not) significantly affect participants’ sexual desire for alternative partners.

In the second study, 132 participants were asked to read “confessions” describing cases of cheating on a current partner (passionately kissing a co-worker and hiding it from their partner) or in academic work (copying an essay from another student).

Participants were then shown 16 photos of attractive and unattractive individuals and asked to respond quickly as to whether those individuals could be a potential romantic partner.

The results revealed that those participants who had read about cheating on a partner (were more likely to consider) the strangers as potential romantic partners.

In the third study, 140 participants read the results of a survey in which the prevalence of romantic infidelity or academic cheating was estimated to be 85 per cent.

Participants were then informed that they would be interviewed by a researcher using an instant messaging platform. Participants uploaded photos of themselves and were shown a photograph of an attractive person from the opposite sex as their messaging partner.

The interviews reportedly included fixed questions about one’s hobbies, food preferences, positive traits, and tips for keeping oneself occupied at home.

The Daily Mail informs that the interviewers ended the interview by writing, “You definitely raised my curiosity! I hope to see you again and this time face to face.”

The participants’ responses to this last prompt were analyzed for their interest in seeing the interviewer again.

In conclusion, participants were asked about their attraction to the interviewer as well as their commitment to their current relationship partner.

According to Psychology Today, the results of study 3 showed that those individuals who were exposed to the romantic cheating information indicated less commitment to their current relationships as opposed to the academic cheating condition.

It was also discovered that, regardless of the cheating condition, men were less committed to their current relationships than women as the male participants were significantly more likely to send a suggestive message than females.

Moreover, the participants who read about the romantic infidelity survey results (and who found the interviewer more attractive) were more likely to end their messages to the interviewer with a desire to meet again.

The authors reason that exposure to infidelity can normalise that behavior and make current relationships more vulnerable to infidelity.

They conclude by saying that a norm of infidelity may make people less motivated to protect their current relationships, leaving them open to potential infidelity in the future.

The Daily Mail reports, “In Study 1, exposure to adultery norms did not have a significant effect on the desire for both current and alternative partners, at least as reflected in sexual fantasies,” the researchers said.

“Study 2 showed that observing others' adulterous behavior did affect more overt manifestations of sexual desire, increasing participants' expressed interest in attractive alternatives.

“Study 3 extended these findings, indicating that greater perceptions of adultery norms were not only associated with a greater desire for alternative partners but also with increased efforts to interact with them in the future.”

The researchers speculate that "exposure to adultery norms may, for example, render long-term goals less prominent and thereby reduce guilt feelings or soften resistance toward infidelity by lessening the motivation to protect the current relationship," Psychology Today states.