Anxiety related to sexual performance and a lack of concern about the consequences such as pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases make both men and women more likely to cheat on their partners, a new study has found
Anxiety related to sexual performance and a lack of concern about the consequences such as pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases make both men and women more likely to cheat on their partners, a new study has foundu00a0
Women who worry about their ability to stay aroused and orgasm are 8 percent more likely to stray for each sexual concern.
Men, on the other hand, are 6 percent more likely to cheat for each worry, such as impotence and premature ejaculation, that they have.
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"People who score high on sexual anxiety may feel less pressure when they''re engaging with a person who doesn''t know their sexual history," the Daily Mail quoted lead researcher Kristen Mark, of the University of Indiana, as saying.
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The researchers surveyed 506 monogamous men and 416 monogamous women with an average age of 31, half of whom were married.
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They were each questioned about their sexual behaviour, the quality of their relationship and whether they had cheated on their current partner.
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Mark and her team found that 23 per cent of men and 19 per cent of women had partaken in a sexual act with another person that could jeopardise their relationship should their partner find out.
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Men who admitted to becoming easily sexually excited were at least 4 per cent more likely to cheat, the researchers found. Sexual excitement has no bearing on women''s likelihood to stray.
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, being unhappy in a relationship was found to increase the chances of a woman straying by between 2.6 and 2.9 per cent.
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The study was published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.
