Religion & Spirituality - People figure infidelity cost-benefit

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People figure infidelity cost-benefit

People make a cost-benefit calculation when considering whether to have an extramarital affair, a University of New Hampshire researcher said.

Lead author Bruce Elmslie of the University of New Hampshire and Edinaldo Tebaldi of Bryant University said the behavior of men and women toward infidelity differs substantially, as men and women respond differently to the perceived costs and benefits of an affair.

The benefits of female infidelity -- men who are good candidates to father a child and who have the education and financial stability to provide for a family -- reduce after the age of 40 because a woman would no longer benefit in terms of improved gene quality from the affair.

"The result that religion does not affect male behavior toward infidelity is consistent with expectations based on biology. Men don't weigh the costs -- spousal quality or eternal damnation -- when deciding whether or not to have an affair," the researchers said.

Men are 7 percent more likely to cheat than women, but upper-class women are 8 percent more likely to cheat than middle and lower-class women. In contrast, men from lower, middle and upper classes are equally likely to cheat.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.

This news arrived on: 08/13/2008

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