People more likely to cheat as they become more economically dependent on their spouses

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-06/asa-pml052715.php

Public Release: 1-Jun-2015
American Sociological Association

Both men and women are more likely to cheat on their spouses the more economically dependent they are on them, according to a new study.

"You would think that people would not want to 'bite the hand that feeds them' so to speak, but that is not what my research shows," said study author Christin L. Munsch, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut. "Instead, the findings indicate people like feeling relatively equal in their relationships. People don't like to feel dependent on another person."

According to Munsch, in an average year, there is about a 5 percent chance that women who are completely economically dependent on their husbands will cheat, whereas there is about a 15 percent chance that men who are entirely economically dependent on their wives will have an affair.

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While Munsch found similarities in the way that men and women respond to being economically dependent, she discovered that men and women who are primary breadwinners in their marriages behave very differently. For women, the more they "breadwin" -- that is, the larger their percentage of the combined marital income -- the less likely they are to cheat.

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Among men, those who are completely economically dependent on their spouses are the most likely to cheat. As the money men make relative to their spouses increases, their odds of committing adultery decrease until their total contribution to the pooled income reaches 70 percent. Men are least likely to cheat when they bring home 70 percent of a couples' total income. After 70 percent, however, men become increasingly more likely to stray.

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