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Maybe you should be suspicious after all.
By Ossiana Tepfenhart — Last updated on May 07, 2023
Whether there’s visible proof or not, most women tend to know when a man is having an affair. They get a sinking feeling. The relationship seems to die down a bit, sex might slow, or something just doesn’t “sit right” anymore. I know, because I’ve been cheated on in the past and it took months for me to find proof.
Now, the funny thing about men is that they are often predictable, even when it comes to the people that they choose to cheat. Ever wonder what the statistics behind cheating are, or who you should be most worried about?
Here is, statistically, who he's probably having an affair with:
1. Generally, most women have an idea of who their partners are cheating on them with before they find proof
Call it women’s intuition, or call it gut instinct, but if you feel a sinking feeling about a person around your husband, that’s probably the most likely mistress.
2. If you don’t have a sinking feeling about anyone in particular, you might want to look at their workplace
Though it’s taboo, it’s not uncommon for workplace affairs to happen. In fact, around 60 percent of all affairs start at work. Around 36 percent of all affairs have a coworker as a mistress or other man. Moreover, people are much more likely to cheat when they are on a business trip, with around 35 percent of all liaisons involving business trips in one way or another.
3. Beware the ex
Exes are major problem-starters, particularly if the cheater is female. Around 21 percent of men and 32 percent of women who had affairs ran into an old flame that sparked something back up. That being said, it is possible to be friends with an ex without having sex involved. Use your instinct, here.
4. Coworkers aside, the next most likely affair partners are often total strangers
We all hear stories about married men picking up random women at sleazy bars. Believe it or not, that’s a trope for a reason. Around 18 percent of all affairs start with total strangers.
5. Around 17 percent of all affairs happen with a brother-in-law or a sister-in-law
This might be due to something called the “proximity effect.” The more you are around a person, the more likable and attractive they are. Additionally, since they are siblings to the person they married, there also may be a taboo side to it that they find sexy.
6. Only 10 percent of men have met their affair partners online
Online-only affairs are very common these days, but they often don’t turn physical like other forms of affairs do. Of those online affairs, around 40 percent will turn into real-life affairs.
7. Around 14 percent of all men in America will pay for sex at one point in their lives, with men who are single only slightly more likely to be the ones to do it
So this means that around 6 percent of married men will cheat on their spouses with a prostitute. This was done as a study on men who were arrested for soliciting prostitutes. Men who buy prostitutes online are much more likely to be married.
8. Around 42 percent of all people caught in affairs would call the affair partner a “good friend”
Obviously, men and women can be platonic friends, even after a relationship. However, if you notice someone who is way too buddy-buddy with your partner, this could be a sign that they may end up having an affair.
9. Despite all this, only 25 percent of all affairs turn into marriage
This suggests that the guys who cheat probably realize that the other girl isn’t wife material.
10. Lastly, there may be some money or pampering motivation behind the other woman’s decision to try to sleep around
An Ashley Madison study showed that most mistresses who weren’t married and feeling unappreciated wanted married men because of the money and expensive goodies they’d be offered.
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Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer whose work has been featured in Yahoo, BRIDES, Your Daily Dish, New Theory Magazine, and others.