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Life

12th May 2019

Women are more likely to cheat after being in a relationship for this long

Anna O'Rourke

You might think that if you’ve been with your significant other for a long time, you’re in the clear when it comes to cheating.

You’ve been through a lot with each other, they’ve met your mum and dad and they finally know how to make your tea properly so it’d be very messy if someone were to stray now, right? Wrong.

Science has now pinpointed when exactly in a long-term relationship women are most likely to cheat on their other half and it might be further along than you’d have thought.

The window for women is between six and ten years in, according to a report published in The Journal of Sex Research.

Men, on the other hand, are less easy to predict; they’re most likely to cheat after 11 years together, researchers found.

In two studies, the researchers interviewed 423 participants. As well as when people were most likely to cheat, they also found that the biggest factors preventing people in relationships from having affairs were their own morals and the fear of ending up alone.

As the Independent points out, the finding that women might cheat between six and ten years into the relationship matches the notion of the ‘seven-year itch’, the idea that people start to question their relationships after seven years together.

It’s probably worth taking scientific findings about matters of the heart with a pinch of salt. Every relationship is unique and to be honest if someone is likely to cheat, they mightn’t wait ten years to do it.