The Age Your Partner Will Most Likely Cheat On You, According To Research
While younger Americans are cheating less, the same can't be said about older generations.
AzmanL | Canva A study from 2017 revealed that while younger Americans are cheating less, older Americans are cheating more.
That’s right, people in their 50s and 60s are the biggest cheaters!
Nicholas H. Wolfinger, a Professor of Family and Consumer Studies and Adjunct Professor of Sociology at the University of Utah analyzed data from the Institute For Family Studies, which asked the question: Have you ever had sex with someone other than your husband or wife while you were married?
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“Most married Americans remain committed to monogamy,” he says, “but the mounting age difference is noteworthy and statistically significant. The data suggests that the trend toward extramarital sex is being driven by people in their 50s and 60s."
Additional analysis of the General Social Survey data reveals that most of these people have been married for between 20 and 30 years.
"Once survey respondents enter their seventies,” Wolfinger notes, “rates of extramarital sex decline considerably.”
By that time, you’re too tired to cheat.
“The second insight is more complex,” he says. “Do people in their 50s and 60s have the most extramarital sex because they’re in midlife and have been married for 20-30 years, or because they came of age at a time that fostered greater sexual exploration?” he asks. “The answer is probably 'both.'"
By the time you’ve been married to someone for 30 years, you could be sexually bored, or just sick of each other.
Photo: Srdjan Randjelovic / Shutterstock
Wolfinger notes that “One inducement to do so may have been the proliferation of Viagra and other medications for erectile dysfunction, which only came on the market 20 years ago.”
According to our medical statistics, urologists say that by 50 years of age, 50 percent of men suffer from erectile dysfunction, and by the age of 60 years, that number goes up to 60 percent.
But thanks to Viagra, Cialis, penile pumps, and implants, they can still get it up, get it on — and cheat.
Another interesting finding of the study was that even when people cheat, they disapprove of other people cheating.
“Either people’s attitudes don’t match their behavior — a classic story in the social sciences," he says, “or we’re witnessing sexual inequality."
According to the past 30 years of the General Social Survey, three out of every four American adults think extramarital sex is always wrong. Perhaps some of this disapproval reflects the comparably high rates of extramarital sex that 50-somethings and 60-somethings have been observing in their peers.
“No matter how many polyamorists there are nowadays, old-fashioned adultery probably has risen among older Americans,” he concludes.
Anka Radakovich is a legendary sex columnist, certified sexologist, sex educator, screenwriter, and author. She has written for British GQ, Marie Claire, Women’s Health, Men’s Health, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Men's Journal, Seventeen, Glamour, Maxim and more.