Think men are the unfaithful sex? A study shows WOMEN are the biggest cheats - they're just better at lying about it.
Men want to think women don't cheat, and women want men to THINK they don't cheat. From a psychological view this works for women. This seems to produce a strange kind of emotional blindness in many men, once they've selected a partner to settle down with.
Are men or women more likely to cheat? While men have always had a worse reputation for being unfaithful, recent studies show that women are catching up fast - but we are a lot more likely to lie about it, and a lot less likely to get caught.
All of the ideas we have in our head about the men that get caught and even our fathers cheating makes you think what mom may have been doing.
According to Dr David Holmes, a psychologist at Manchester Metropolitan University, women are having more affairs than ever - recent studies say the figure is around 20 per cent for men and a bit over 15 per cent for women - but they behave very differently from men when they cheat.
The biggest difference is that women are much better at keeping their affairs secret,' he says. 'If you look at the studies into paternity, even conservative figures show that between eight and 15 per cent of children haven't been fathered by the man who thinks he's the biological parent. Women have always had affairs, but over the past 20 years that number has risen dramatically.
But while women's lives and sexual behaviour might have changed, their willingness to be honest about it hasn't.
While men might exaggerate their sexual conquests, the bigger liars are women.
A Woman's Incentive to Lie? Because she must, and because she can. In spite of apparent equality and a more sexually open society, women are still more harshly judged for their sex lives than men
Many women also develop a habit of secrecy about smaller issues in their relationship as a way of maintaining some kind of control.
'Women are better liars because they're more psychologically sophisticated,' says Dr Holmes. 'You can argue about whether it's nature or nurture, but women are programmed to be much more relationship and people orientated than men. 'Emotionally, they make plans and have strategies, while men are more impulsive
Dr Holmes says: 'Often, women keep the secret because they're much more conscious of how much there is to lose, and to protect the other people involved. If she has children, she'll be especially careful that they aren't hurt in any way by the knowledge of what she's doing
Historically, a man has put a higher value on the fidelity of his woman because he needs to be sure that any children she has are really his.
Men want to think women don't cheat, and women want men to THINK they don't cheat. From a psychological view this works for women. This seems to produce a strange kind of emotional blindness in many men, once they've selected a partner to settle down with.
Are men or women more likely to cheat? While men have always had a worse reputation for being unfaithful, recent studies show that women are catching up fast - but we are a lot more likely to lie about it, and a lot less likely to get caught.
All of the ideas we have in our head about the men that get caught and even our fathers cheating makes you think what mom may have been doing.
According to Dr David Holmes, a psychologist at Manchester Metropolitan University, women are having more affairs than ever - recent studies say the figure is around 20 per cent for men and a bit over 15 per cent for women - but they behave very differently from men when they cheat.
The biggest difference is that women are much better at keeping their affairs secret,' he says. 'If you look at the studies into paternity, even conservative figures show that between eight and 15 per cent of children haven't been fathered by the man who thinks he's the biological parent. Women have always had affairs, but over the past 20 years that number has risen dramatically.
But while women's lives and sexual behaviour might have changed, their willingness to be honest about it hasn't.
While men might exaggerate their sexual conquests, the bigger liars are women.
A Woman's Incentive to Lie? Because she must, and because she can. In spite of apparent equality and a more sexually open society, women are still more harshly judged for their sex lives than men
Many women also develop a habit of secrecy about smaller issues in their relationship as a way of maintaining some kind of control.
'Women are better liars because they're more psychologically sophisticated,' says Dr Holmes. 'You can argue about whether it's nature or nurture, but women are programmed to be much more relationship and people orientated than men. 'Emotionally, they make plans and have strategies, while men are more impulsive
Dr Holmes says: 'Often, women keep the secret because they're much more conscious of how much there is to lose, and to protect the other people involved. If she has children, she'll be especially careful that they aren't hurt in any way by the knowledge of what she's doing
Historically, a man has put a higher value on the fidelity of his woman because he needs to be sure that any children she has are really his.
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