13 facts about cheating that couples — and singles — should know

Timothy Marsee/Flickr

• Infidelity means different things to different people
• Psychologists and relationship experts have spent years studying the science of infidelity
• Some of their most compelling findings are below — but remember, they aren't predictions of the future

Infidelity is murky territory. Does a one-night stand at a bachelor party count? How about an emotional entanglement with a close friend that doesn't involve anything physical?

Psychologists and relationship experts have spent years studying the science of infidelity, turning up surprising insights into what different couples consider cheating, how they react to cheating, and how they bounce back after someone strays.

We looked into some of that research and pulled out the most compelling results. Read on to see what we found — and how you can apply these findings to your own relationship.

If you're economically dependent on your spouse, you're more likely to cheat on them

A 2015 study of about 2,800 people between ages 18 and 32, published in the American Sociological Review, suggests that a person who is completely economically dependent on their spouse is more likely to be unfaithful. 

That's especially true for a man who relies financially on a woman. Fifteen percent of men who are completely financially dependent on their wives cheat, compared to 5% of dependent women.

Here's the really interesting part: Men are less likely to cheat the more money they make relative to their spouse — until they bring in 70% of the household income, at which point they become more likely to cheat again.

Women are also less likely to cheat the more money they make relative to their spouse — but their cheating rates don't seem to go up at any point.

Men and women react differently to flirting outside their relationship

A 2008 study published in the journal Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes found that after men flirted with an attractive person of the opposite sex, they were less tolerant of their partner's transgressions. Women, on the other hand, were more so.

The study also found that men could be taught to write down a strategy to protect their relationship from tempting alternatives. In fact, after developing their strategy, men were just as likely as women to protect their partnership, as measured through a virtual-reality game.

We feel differently based on the sex of the person our partner cheats with

For a 2015 study, published in the journal Personal Relationships, men and women read about hypothetical scenarios in which their partner had sex with someone of a different sex or the same sex.

When researchers asked participants how they would feel about it, the men were more likely to be angry and more inclined to end a relationship if their partner cheated with someone of a different sex. But they were more likely to be aroused if their partner cheated with someone of the same sex.

Women also said they'd feel more negatively if their partner cheated with someone of a different sex. But they'd be more inclined to end the relationship if their partner cheated with someone of the same sex.