Changing Landscape of Infidelity

Infidelity is becoming more common among people under the age of 30.  It is estimated that roughly 30% to 60% of all married individuals (in the United States) will engage in infidelity at some point during the lifetime of their marriage.  A change of time and technology is greatly responsible for the increase of infidelity in the last 20 years.  With recent technology, people are able to connect with other people without leaving the comfort of their own homes.  Tinder is an example of an application that makes the opportunity to cheat on your spouse extremely easy.  A person can search for other people from the comfort of their own home without having to get out of bed.  This eliminates the old method where a person would have to go out and socially interact with other people in order to cheat on their spouse.  Online dating has exploded over the past decade with no signs of slowing down.  Online dating allows people to interact with multiple potential partners all from a computer or phone screen.  Recent research conducted by the GlobalWebIndex indicates that around 42% of Tinder users are either married or in a relationship.

The main increase in infidelity has come from women.  Surveys found that men are still likely to cheat on their significant other just as much as they would in the past.  Surveys have found that female infidelity has increased to as much as 55% risk of infidelity during the course of a lifetime.  The risk of infidelity by a female was once as low as 25%.  There are several factors that give insight as to why the risk of female infidelity has dramatically increased over the past 20 years.

Since infidelity is more common, it has become more socially acceptable.  People, especially women, feel more comfortable than ever before when it comes to cheating on their spouse.  Perhaps one of the main factors responsible for the increase of infidelity by women is the fact that women have made great strides in society over the past 20 years.  Women are now feeling more confident, stronger, and more independent than ever before.  Women are earning more and are becoming financially independent.  Many women now feel that they are financially and emotionally independent enough to deal with the repercussions of their spouse discovering their affair.  Women are also more likely now than ever to stay late at work and to travel for work related reasons, which may result in more interactions with potential partners.  The amount of women that depend on their husbands for financial and emotional support is dropping by the day.

With all these factors, it is not uncommon for younger people to have multiple sexual partners before they are married, unlike 50 years ago where it was more unlikely that a person had multiple sexual partners at once.  People who have had multiple partners may find it difficult to transition to one partner for the rest of their lives.  This can often result in an infidelity situation.

Changes in time, society and technology are greatly affected the infidelity rates among Americans, especially women.  As women become more financially and emotionally independent, it is estimated that the percentage of women who cheat on their spouse will continue to increase over time and may potentially surpass the percentage of men who cheat on their spouses.

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*