"Someone told me the delightful story of the crusader who put a chastity belt on his wife and gave the key to his best friend for safekeeping, in case of his death. He had ridden only a few miles away when his friend, riding hard, caught up with him, saying 'You gave me the wrong key!'"
Rates and Demographics of Infidelity
In the late 40's and early 50's when Alfred Kinsey was compiling his data for what would later be called the Kinsey Reports, he estimated that approximately 50% of all men and 26% of women would, at some point in their married lives, engage in extramarital activity (Kinsey, et al. 1948; 1953). Further studies have bounced between confirming and disputing that claim. More recent studies point to lower percentages, especially for the male population. Whether trends have changed over the past 60 years, something entirely possible, or whether Kinsey's data was incorrect at the time, is only a guess. Current studies report infidelity at a rate of 23-34% for men and 15-25% for women (Wiederman, 1997; Mark, Janssen, Milhausen, 2011), significantly below the Kinsey figures.
Infidelity in Heterosexual Couples examined a multitude of factors, including pre-relationship and in-relationship sexual behavior, to determine what types of behavior might have an impact on extramarital promiscuity. Among their many findings pertaining to sexual activity:
• Individuals reporting infidelity also reported significantly higher rates of one-night stands (mean rates of 6.3 vs 3.5).
• Individuals who engaged in anal intercourse once or more over the past 6 months were more likely, although not significantly more likely, to have engaged in infidelity.
• There were no significant differences between those who had engaged in extramarital activities and those who had not in terms of the amount of sexual activity, masturbation frequency, and vaginal intercourse frequency.
• Men and women who engaged in regretful sexual behavior in negative or positive mood states have higher rates of infidelity.
Also examined were many standard demographics such as gender, race, importance of religion (but not type of religion), marital status, education, income and employment status. In regards to gender, Infidelity in Heterosexual Couples found that 23% of males and 19% of females in the study self-identified as having engaged in extramarital activity in their current relationship (and all participants were in relationships at the time of the study). Marital status emerged as a better identifier of infidelity, in this study, with unmarried couples and cohabitating couples reporting extradyadic activity 8% less often, irrespective of gender, than their married or separated/divorced/widowed counterparts. Other studies have found opposite results.
Race was not indicative of infidelity by the results of this study - the spread between the lowest racial classification and the highest was only 1.3%. Income and employment status showed that full time employees in upper middle income brackets are more likely to engage in infidelity than their poverty level or unemployed counterparts. By contrast, however, the education level worked in reverse. Those with only a high school education were significantly more likely to have sex outside of their relationship than their peers who were either still in post-secondary school or had graduated by 7-11%. Importance of religion was another successful predictor of infidelity with only 10.7% of people who self-identified religion as being 'Very Important' to them also reporting infidelity. Rates of infidelity jumped significantly beyond this point, with those rating religion as 'Important' reporting infidelity at a rate of 19.6%, 'Slightly Important' at a rate of 21.9%, and 'Not Important' at the highest rate of 26%.
So what does it all mean? Certain demographics suggest infidelity, but by no means are they an assured method of predicting extradyadic activity. Despite some demographic trends, the researchers found that "for both men and women, sexual personality characteristics and, for women, relationship factors are more relevant to the prediction of sexual infidelity than demographic variables such as marital status and religiosity" (Mark, Janssen, Milhausen, 2011). In layman's terms - personality and causation are higher predictors of infidelity than demographics.
Infidelity in Heterosexual Couples examined a multitude of factors, including pre-relationship and in-relationship sexual behavior, to determine what types of behavior might have an impact on extramarital promiscuity. Among their many findings pertaining to sexual activity:
• Individuals reporting infidelity also reported significantly higher rates of one-night stands (mean rates of 6.3 vs 3.5).
• Individuals who engaged in anal intercourse once or more over the past 6 months were more likely, although not significantly more likely, to have engaged in infidelity.
• There were no significant differences between those who had engaged in extramarital activities and those who had not in terms of the amount of sexual activity, masturbation frequency, and vaginal intercourse frequency.
• Men and women who engaged in regretful sexual behavior in negative or positive mood states have higher rates of infidelity.
Also examined were many standard demographics such as gender, race, importance of religion (but not type of religion), marital status, education, income and employment status. In regards to gender, Infidelity in Heterosexual Couples found that 23% of males and 19% of females in the study self-identified as having engaged in extramarital activity in their current relationship (and all participants were in relationships at the time of the study). Marital status emerged as a better identifier of infidelity, in this study, with unmarried couples and cohabitating couples reporting extradyadic activity 8% less often, irrespective of gender, than their married or separated/divorced/widowed counterparts. Other studies have found opposite results.
Race was not indicative of infidelity by the results of this study - the spread between the lowest racial classification and the highest was only 1.3%. Income and employment status showed that full time employees in upper middle income brackets are more likely to engage in infidelity than their poverty level or unemployed counterparts. By contrast, however, the education level worked in reverse. Those with only a high school education were significantly more likely to have sex outside of their relationship than their peers who were either still in post-secondary school or had graduated by 7-11%. Importance of religion was another successful predictor of infidelity with only 10.7% of people who self-identified religion as being 'Very Important' to them also reporting infidelity. Rates of infidelity jumped significantly beyond this point, with those rating religion as 'Important' reporting infidelity at a rate of 19.6%, 'Slightly Important' at a rate of 21.9%, and 'Not Important' at the highest rate of 26%.
So what does it all mean? Certain demographics suggest infidelity, but by no means are they an assured method of predicting extradyadic activity. Despite some demographic trends, the researchers found that "for both men and women, sexual personality characteristics and, for women, relationship factors are more relevant to the prediction of sexual infidelity than demographic variables such as marital status and religiosity" (Mark, Janssen, Milhausen, 2011). In layman's terms - personality and causation are higher predictors of infidelity than demographics.
This is an article with data and facts and science and statistics, and references. YAY!!!!!
good facts and data
I have to laugh that anal sex is being used to indicate possible infidelity. Agenda much?
I don't think it was an agenda. The study mentioned it in the demographics area and had exactly one line on it, peroid. I think it was just one of those things that they mentioned in passing, along with every other demographic they surveyed.
nice