Reasons for Adultery

Jasbina Ahluwalia asks Dr. Helen Fisher: Are there different reasons for adultery gender-wise?

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Dr. Helen Fisher

There are all kinds of reasons for adultery. I’ll give you just a few of them.

I did a meta-analysis. I looked at all of the data on adultery. I wrote an article called Infidelity: When, Where, Why. It’s on my website, HelenFisher.com if someone wants to look it up.

 

Some Reasons for Adultery

There are many, many reasons for adultery.

  • Some people want to solve a sex problem.
  • Some people want more sex.
  • Some people want to get caught and patch up a relationship.
  • Some people want to get caught and end relationships.
  • Some people want to supplement a relationship.
  • Some people get lonely when their partner is out of town.
  • Some people want to walk on the wild side.

Those are some psychological reasons. There are all kinds of reasons.

 

Reasons for Adultery: Dependence

If a woman is very dependent on a man for financial stability, she’s going to be less likely to be adulterous.

It goes on and on. There are various reasons for adultery.

There is something that I find most interesting in the adultery literature.

 

Reasons for Adultery: Not Unhappiness

They asked a group of people why they were adulterous. As it turns out,

  • 54% of men were in a very happy marriage when they were adulterous.
  • Whereas, 36% of women were in a very happy marriage when they were adulterous.

That means that there are a certain number of people out there being adulterous when, in fact, they are in a good, solid partnership.

 

Reasons for Adultery: Evolution

That makes me as an anthropologist begin to wonder why there could be some evolutionary reasons that we would do something that, in this society, is not to our advantage.

 

Reasons for Adultery: Genetics

I’ve looked into some of the biology. There are some genes that are likely to make someone more susceptible to adultery.

That doesn’t mean that you’re going to be more adulterous.

Some people are more susceptible to alcoholism, smoking cigarettes or eating too much, for biological reasons, but they don’t do it.

 

Reasons for Adultery: Desire

The bottom line is that we do vary in our desire for risk, sex and adventure. Some people are going to be more prone to it than others.

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Tell Us:

Do you know some reasons for adultery? Share your observations and experiences with us below in the comments section.

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The above is an excerpt from Jasbina’s interview with Dr. Helen Fisher.

Listen to the entire interview on: Intersections Match Talk Radio – Jasbina’s Lifestyle Show

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Listen to the entire interview on iTunes

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