If you’re a cheater probably don’t let your partner read this
“Once a cheater, always a cheater” – according to science, there’s evidence to suggest when it comes to staying faithful the old adage holds up.
To test the theory, researchers from the University of Denver looked to see whether infidelity in a previous relationship made cheating more likely the next time around, IFL Science reported.
Researchers quizzed 484 people in mixed-gender romantic relationships about whether they had been cheated on or not in their current relationships, or were suspicious their partners had.
The group was followed through to their next relationships to see if those who admitted cheating the first time around went on to repeat the behaviour, the study, published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior found.
SPOILER: They did…
The study, which followed its participants over five years, found that the cheaters were three times more likely to do it again compared to those who remained faithful during their earlier relationship.
It also found that those who were suspicious of their partner the first time around were four times more likely to suspect their new partner of cheating.
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The study, aptly titled ‘Once a Cheater, Always a Cheater? Serial Infidelity Across Subsequent Relationships’, further found that people who knew for certain that their first partner had cheated, rather than just being a little suss, were twice as likely to report that their subsequent partner had also cheated.
Researchers concluded that previous cheating was an important risk factor for infidelity in the next relationships.
In short, if they were a cheater before, chances are they’d do it again.
The psychologists controlled for demographic risk factors and controlled for gender and marital status.
So if participants cheated in their first relationship with someone they weren’t married to, they were still more likely to cheat in the second relationship even if they were married this time.
Read the full study here.
