The behaviour that's even worse for a relationship than cheating

A new study seeks to shed some light on cheating partners.

Psychology professor Dr David Frederick of Chapman University, California conducted a study to see what was more upsetting: having your partner cheat on you sexually, or having them fall in love with someone else without engaging in sexual relations?

Frederick's research for the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior asked this question to over 60,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual participants.

The research found that an overwhelming 65 per cent of heterosexual women considered “emotional cheating” worse than physical cheating, whereas 54 per cent of men would be more upset by their partners’ sexual infidelity.

Additionally, 70 per cent of bisexual men, 68 per cent of gay men and 73 per cent of bisexual women were more upset with the prospect of their partner’s emotional infidelity in comparison to sexual.

Why the disparity?

Evolutionary theory stepped in to explain:

The proposed explanation is that men, in contrast to women face the risk of unwittingly investing in genetically unrelated offspring.

In other words, this theory determines that biologically, men seek paternal security: if women have multiple sexual partners, there is a higher chance of pregnancy, and thus a man might invest in a child which isn't genetically related to him.

Of course, current scientific trends seeks to develop a broader dialogue to challenge the idea of gendered monogamy.

H/T: Her.ie

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