Behavior: Infidelity Poll

Women enjoy it more

Do women feel more guilty than men when they cheat on their mates? Yes, concludes a Penn State study, but they get more emotional satisfaction out of the affair. Of 205 men and women—all recently separated or divorced—surveyed by Sociologist Graham Spanier, more than a third said they had cheated during marriage (38% males, 37% females). But a much higher percentage of the straying women said they found their adventures very satisfactory (57% to the males’ 34%). The women paid the price for being satisfied; they reported almost twice as much guilt as men. Spanier says that might prove one of two things: either women express their sexual needs better, or “they may tend to label relationships with greater intensity.” Translation of option two: women may make too much out of a simple fling.