Who Cheats More: Males or Females?

Infidelity is becoming more and more familiar with time. The rise in infidelity among couples is so drastic that it’s not restricted to just troubled couples anymore. People in seemingly happy relationships also end up being unfaithful to their partners.

This trend of cheating on your partner doesn’t seem to be restricted to any gender. It’s a known fact that all men dream of infidelity. Likewise, it is also a known fact that all women cheat as well. But who cheats more, males or females? Multiple researchers have set out to seek an answer to this question and also the reasons behind it.

According to recent data on how many spouses cheat in the United States annually, it is revealed that infidelity rates are high in both genders. Cheating on your significant other does not enjoy a predilection towards one gender and can occur regardless of your sex. However, there might be some disparity between the overall numbers for cases in males and females. To see how infidelity rates in men match up against women’s unfaithfulness, read more below.

Cheating Rates – Men vs Women

While it is true that both genders are prone to being unfaithful to their significant others, men women cheating statistics tell a deeper story. If we look at cheating statistics for each gender, it seems that infidelity among men and women occurs at slightly different rates.

According to recent statistics for cheating men vs. women from the General Social survey, it seems that men have taken the lead in being disloyal to their partners. According to the survey, 20% of committed men admitted to having succumbed to cheating on their spouse at least once in their lifetime. 13% of women responded in the affirmative when asked about cheating on their partners in the same survey.

The survey also shows that cheating statistics between both genders are almost identical for younger age groups, with ladies being slightly more prone to infidelity than men. The disparity among the rate of infidelity in guys and gals raises with age group. Older men are much more likely to be unfaithful to their partners as compared to older ladies. With increasing age, the infidelity rates for men increase further. These rates peak at 80 years old and above. For women, the reverse is true. Cheating rates decrease among females, with age coming to an all-time low at age 80 and above. This means that the competition of cheating rates, men vs women, is clearly won by men at an older demographic.

Who Cheats More in 2021, Males or Females?

The answer to the question “are males or females more likely to cheat?” has become somewhat apparent already. Men have been shown by statistics to be indulged in infidelity more than their female counterparts. This might be because of the universal freedom men have enjoyed over centuries. Men are traditionally seen as the ones who go out and manage the lifestyle of their family in many parts of the world even now. Maybe the sense of freedom that comes with being able to go out wherever, whenever, is what provides men with the foundations to be unfaithful to their partners. There might be more than one reason for this infidelity, however.

Historical data has also indicated men to be more likely to cheat throughout history. Infidelity rates among American men born in the 1940s and 1950s were recorded as one of the highest simply because these men experienced the sexual revolution in their prime. These statistics also vary with other factors such as social factors, race, and educational background. For example, black Americans are more likely to cheat on their spouses when compared to Hispanics and Whites. 22% of black married men admitted to being unfaithful to their spouses, while only 16% of whites and 13% of married Hispanic men admitted to being unfaithful.

But would the same trends still hold up true if we were to look at the cheating rates of men and women in 2021? The short answer to this question is yes. The same trends still hold up true in 2021 as, according to newer statistics, 25% of married men, and 15% of married women, admit to being unfaithful to their respective partners. The same reasons as before could be responsible for these cheating statistics for both genders in 2021.

How Many Percent of Women Cheat?

We’ve seen some historical data for infidelity over the years. We’ve also seen some of the recent data for infidelity, and both these data sets point to one thing: men cheat more than women in long-term relationships. Whatever the reason might be for this apparent difference in cheating statistics for each gender, men are usually more involved in infidelity than women.

However, this does not negate the fact that women still cheat. We’ve already established that men have been and still are the bigger cheaters out of the two genders. Let’s now take a look at how many women have cheated over the years.

Statistics for How Many Women Cheat

Let us take a look at some statistics for women. Here’s how many women have cheated while being in married relationships. According to IRF, 13% of married women cheat on their husbands. This number is greatly influenced by a number of factors, such as their age, racial background, and even seemingly trivial stuff like a college education background.

Age is by far one of the biggest determinants of the percentage of women who cheat on their husbands in marriages. For example, at a younger age group such as 18-29 years of age, women are more likely to cheat on their partners, even more so than men. As this age group increases, men eventually take the lead and leave girls behind in cheating rates. However, cheating rates among women still rise fairly high and reach an all-time high when ladies reach their 60s. The increase in cheating rates for women with increasing age might be due to even more social factors including, but not limited to, divorces, nulliparity, and overall life satisfaction.

Married women are also 15% more likely to have emotional affairs. What’s an emotional affair, you ask? Read more below.

Emotional Affairs, A New Way of Cheating?

An emotional affair is defined as when a person starts giving and receiving more emotional intimacy and comfort from outside their primary relationship. That particular person starts to feel closer and more intimate with the person outside the marriage and is said to experience increased sexual tension and chemistry.

People involved in emotional affairs are often guilt-free. This is because the affair is non-physical. This gives a false impression of remaining faithful as no sexual contact has been made with anyone other than their own partner. But this is merely a false illusion. The thing is, intimacy does not have to be physical. And as it just so happens, emotional dependency is one of the biggest determinants of intimacy. People who engage in emotional affairs run the risk of hurting their partner with deception, lies, and a feeling of betrayal, just like in a physical affair.

Although, men have been seen as the bigger cheaters in both historical and modern relationships. Women are 15% more likely than men to engage in emotional affairs. Some of the reasons for ladies to engage in emotional affairs include a lack of support system, a mundane routine, a lack of mutual respect in the relationship, and a lack of communication.

How Often Do Married Women Cheat?

The short answer to the question of how many married women cheat on their husbands is “a lot.” As indicated by surveys, 15% of married women cheat on their husbands. Even though statistics suggest that men cheat more than women, this does not negate a very high rate of cheating among women themselves.

In fact, recent studies suggest that women might just be catching up to men in this regard. Other studies have suggested that millennial women cheat more than millennial men. There are several reasons for married women to be cheating on their husbands. To determine how many married women have affairs and why it’s worth taking a look at each of these reasons in detail.

Reasons for Married Women Cheating On Their Husbands

The percentage of married women looking to cheat on their husbands is increasing every day. Here’s why:

1. Sometimes, women simply feel rejected in all aspects of their life. This feeling of loneliness is only escalated by the societal reforms that look down on the ladies, calling them weak and fragile creatures. All of this combined takes a toll on their self-esteem, and the result is infidelity – in most cases at least.
2. Emotional Starvation is one of the biggest factors why women cheat in their relationships. It is also why women have emotional affairs. Since they don’t get a healthy dose of emotional sustenance at their homes, they try to find it outside with other men.
3. Since women aren’t naturally as physically built as men, their manner of expressing anger is a lot different than most men. Sometimes, in order to express anger or retribution, loud enough to make a statement, ladies end up taking drastic steps. Married women cheating on their husbands is one solid example.
4. Another reason that is equally as important as emotional deprivation is sexual deprivation. When women don’t get enough in their own beds, they go out to get some in other places.
5. Most women lack a secure attachment style, much more than men, simply because women generally experience a more turbulent upbringing. This also influences their behaviors as adults, and they end up having an affair.

Why Do Married Women Cheat With Married Men?

Who is more unfaithful, men or women? The answer is both. Even though statistics point towards men being the bigger cheaters, women are not much behind. In fact, millennial girls are statistically much more likely to have an affair than their male counterparts.

Now that it’s established that both genders cheat on their spouses, here’s a bit on who do women prefer for their sneaky infidelity? Do women are unfaithful to their partners with other guys or gals? Also, do women cheat on their partners with other married people or singles?

Most ladies are being unfaithful to their husbands with other married men, but why? The answer is very simple. All the reasons that we have described for girls to become unfaithful to their husbands are also true for men in failing relationships. Thus, these unsatisfied men and women, when they find each other, make for a perfect fantasy that they just couldn’t have back home! This is why married women cheat on married men.