2008 Woodie Awards
Research shows women are as likely to cheat as men
Jessica Woods
Issue date: 4/3/07 Section: Entertainment
- Page 1 of 1
"Of course they cheat, they're men," junior Christine Rollins said. "I expect it, almost like it's the way they're designed."
Or is it? Infidelity has had quite a spotlight in the media lately with the popularity of television shows such as "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" where infidelity is seen as a fact of life, perhaps even acceptable. And society has dismissed this behavior as natural, especially for men.
"Men are biologically predisposed to be aggressive and competitive," senior Jason Coe said. "Because monogamy eliminates this competition, unless sufficiently replaced in some other facet of life, infidelity is the only answer."
Sophomore Stephanie Sarkos agrees.
"I think there's this idea that since caveman days, men are just, like, wired to spread their seed, or whatever, and women are putting up with it for the most part because they think that's just the way it is," Sarkos said.
But new research suggests that women are just as likely to cheat as their male counterparts, if not more so. In her 2006 book "Women's Infidelity: Living in Limbo," Michelle Langley offers ten years of research for her premise that women do cheat as much as men.
She says that society has set lower standards for men and monogamy, and that sex outside of their relationships is seen as normal and acceptable. Whereas if a woman cheats on her partner, it is because she sees her relationship or mate as flawed.
Also, Langley cites women's fluctuating hormones and later sexual peak, often in the mid 30s, as other reasons for straying.
So are we simply designed to cheat on our mates? Is it unnatural to stay with just one person? Have we become less monogamous as a society in general?
"In some ways we might be. In terms of recent history it would appear that way," said Dr. Thomas Diggins, associate professor of biological sciences. "Infidelity is more apparent and more obvious in today's society. We are products of our biology, but our culture, society and psychology probably exert much stronger control over us," he said.
Diggins said we cannot point the finger at our biological makeup as a reason for cheating. Biologically speaking, "every long-term pair bonding is favored where there is very low reproductive output but very high parental involvement," Diggins said.
This applies to birds, elephants and - drum roll, please - humans.
In all actuality, we were heading toward monogamy as far as evolutionary evidence is concerned, so cavemen were not the lotharios we've been led to believe.
"We have fallen into the realm of culture and society, but this is the opposite of what is supported by biology. Man is a cultural animal," Diggins said.
Still, senior Jason Kuppler disagrees.
"I don't think it's natural to be monogamous. Most mammals will screw anything, so we inherently want to do the same as humans. We're just a step up, as far as I'm concerned."
Or is it? Infidelity has had quite a spotlight in the media lately with the popularity of television shows such as "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" where infidelity is seen as a fact of life, perhaps even acceptable. And society has dismissed this behavior as natural, especially for men.
"Men are biologically predisposed to be aggressive and competitive," senior Jason Coe said. "Because monogamy eliminates this competition, unless sufficiently replaced in some other facet of life, infidelity is the only answer."
Sophomore Stephanie Sarkos agrees.
"I think there's this idea that since caveman days, men are just, like, wired to spread their seed, or whatever, and women are putting up with it for the most part because they think that's just the way it is," Sarkos said.
But new research suggests that women are just as likely to cheat as their male counterparts, if not more so. In her 2006 book "Women's Infidelity: Living in Limbo," Michelle Langley offers ten years of research for her premise that women do cheat as much as men.
She says that society has set lower standards for men and monogamy, and that sex outside of their relationships is seen as normal and acceptable. Whereas if a woman cheats on her partner, it is because she sees her relationship or mate as flawed.
Also, Langley cites women's fluctuating hormones and later sexual peak, often in the mid 30s, as other reasons for straying.
So are we simply designed to cheat on our mates? Is it unnatural to stay with just one person? Have we become less monogamous as a society in general?
"In some ways we might be. In terms of recent history it would appear that way," said Dr. Thomas Diggins, associate professor of biological sciences. "Infidelity is more apparent and more obvious in today's society. We are products of our biology, but our culture, society and psychology probably exert much stronger control over us," he said.
Diggins said we cannot point the finger at our biological makeup as a reason for cheating. Biologically speaking, "every long-term pair bonding is favored where there is very low reproductive output but very high parental involvement," Diggins said.
This applies to birds, elephants and - drum roll, please - humans.
In all actuality, we were heading toward monogamy as far as evolutionary evidence is concerned, so cavemen were not the lotharios we've been led to believe.
"We have fallen into the realm of culture and society, but this is the opposite of what is supported by biology. Man is a cultural animal," Diggins said.
Still, senior Jason Kuppler disagrees.
"I don't think it's natural to be monogamous. Most mammals will screw anything, so we inherently want to do the same as humans. We're just a step up, as far as I'm concerned."
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