Cheating on your partner could be contagious, study reveals

It's hard to find an explanation for cheating in a relationship. However, researchers have come up with a new and rather atypical finding. According to the results of the study, being in contact with a person who is not faithful to his or her partner could have an impact on faithfulness.

Science says infidelity is contagious

'Knowing that other people are having affairs may make you less hesitant to have one yourself,' says Gurit Birnbaum, one of the study's authors. To deduce this, the researchers focused on the 'individual and relationship characteristics that make relationships vulnerable.'

To do this, the scientists conducted three different studies with heterosexual and monogamous couples. The participants, all of whom were involved in a romantic relationship, were exposed to the unfaithful behaviour of other people. For the study, their perceptions and relational reactions were recorded and then analysed.

The results of the study

The result? After being exposed to other people's adulterous behaviour 'participants were less likely to devalue the attractiveness of alternative partners'. Clearly, this reduces awareness of 'long-term relationship maintenance priorities, thereby reducing resistance to trying attractive alternatives'.

Birnbaum explains that:

Environments that promote infidelity decrease the motivation to protect the bond with the current partner

In fact, such behaviour 'opens the door to the desire to find other partners'. Of course, this does not mean that when you come into contact with an unfaithful person, you automatically become one. However, the author of the study points out that a person who is

Already sensitive to infidelity (...) these environments may provide the little nudge to resolve the conflict between respecting moral values and succumbing to short-term temptations by promoting infidelity

This article was translated from Oh!MyMag FR.

Sources used:

Archives of Sexual Behavior: Is Infidelity Contagious? Online Exposure to Norms of Adultery and Its Effect on Expressions of Desire for Current and Alternative Partners