Durvasula said cheating is «not the norm, but not uncommon,» with some estimates as high as 35 to 40 percent among those in long term but non-marital relationships and perhaps closer to 15 to 20 percent among marital relationships.

However, the psychologist noted this research is limited because it may not account for the full range of infidelity, including emotional infidelity, online infidelity, as well as «what sexual or intimate behavior qualifies» as infidelity.

Durvasula also said: «In addition, the research is often heteronormative, and doesn’t capture this experience in LGBTQ+ relationships. Numbers vary vastly cross-culturally often as a function of cultural prohibitions and even punishments in different parts of the world and across religions and cultures,» she explained.

• A study found around 41 percent of men admit they have thought about cheating on their partners, while 39 percent claim they hadn’t ever thought about it. Just over half of women (54 percent) say that they’ve never thought about cheating on their partner, while 28 percent say that they have.
• While both men and women «largely agree» that having sex counts as cheating, women are more likely than men to view other things as infidelity.
• Around 74 percent of women consider «sexting» or «forming an emotional, non-sexual relationship with another person to be cheating, while 59 percent of men also agree.
• While 56 percent of women say you’re a cheater if you form an emotional relationship with another person, only 38 percent of men also consider this to be cheating.

How the cheater responds

Some of the recovery has to do with «the empathy and contrition of the cheater,» Durvasula noted.Seguir leyendo