Why Guys Don't Tell Their Friends When They Cheat
We may not know why men cheat, but we do know why they keep it to themselves.
carlesmiro / Shutterstock When it comes to letting the infidelity cat out of the bag, a recent survey uncovered that ladies will tell their friends about an affair while dudes are much more likely to keep it to themselves.
Do cheaters tell their friends?
The bottom line of the survey is that 72% of women who cheat tell someone about their affair, whereas only 23% of men feel a need to confess their infidelities to anyone at all.
Here's why guys don't talk about cheating with their friends and what that can reveal about their personality.
1. Many men don't like talking about feelings with other men.
... unless it's a negligent dad who finally sees the error of his ways and there's a decent chance that an affair will include feelings. But there's more to it than that, because yes, men do have feelings.
2. Men don't like putting their actual buddies in the position of having that kind of information.
Even guys who are only friends because they are on a reality show feel uncomfortable when they are privy to some creeping.
3. Most men, even if they call themselves jerks, like to think of themselves as "pretty good guys."
Cheating, by most accounts and rationalizations, isn't a good thing and we don't want our boys to think we're bad people.
4. Loyalty, even when it's to a man's detriment, is something we all respect.
We give each other a hard time if we start cheering for a new team inorganically. Can you imagine if we messed around on our families? Stop snitchin'.
5. A big reason that men have an affair is to enjoy the pleasure of that which is novel.
Part of that novelty is keeping the thing to ourselves. The sneaking part keeps it precious (in as much as cheating on your wife can be precious).
6. No one likes a cheater.
If your buddy is going to cheat on his wife, what's to stop him from cheating on poker night, fantasy football, or credit card roulette?
Tom Miller is a writer and performer based in Los Angeles. He's been a mechanical engineer, a banker, as well as the general manager and coordinating video producer at YourTango.