Are men or women more likely to cheat? While men have always had a worse reputation for being unfaithful, recent studies show that women are catching up fast – but we are a lot more likely to lie about it, and a lot less likely to get caught.
Simply put, it seems that women are better at having affairs than men.
The news that Farrah Fawcett had a secret affair for 11 years without telling a soul is a classic example of the way a woman cheats: discreetly, in secret, and while carrying on with the rest of her life as normal.
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It has been met with hot denials by Ryan O’Neal, but – and I’m sorry to break it to you this way, Ryan – you’d be the last to know.
According to Dr David Holmes, a psychologist at Manchester Metropolitan University, women are having more affairs than ever – recent studies say the figure is around 20 per cent for men and a bit over 15 per cent for women – but they behave very differently from men when they cheat.
‘The biggest difference is that women are much better at keeping their affairs secret,’ he says. ‘If you look at the studies into paternity, even conservative figures show that between eight and 15 per cent of children haven’t been fathered by the man who thinks he’s the biological parent.’
That’s a lot of women keeping a lot of secrets. One woman I know – let’s call her Juliet – has been married to Adrian for ten years, and having an affair with Mark for the past two.
She has told me and her sister – otherwise, she says, she’s ’100 per cent certain’ that nobody else knows.
Read more: NaijaXclusive
