Unfaithful men why

The Demographics of Infidelity in America. Institute for Family Studies. Updated January Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Brides. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification.

I Accept Show Purposes. By Cristina Montemayor. Cristina Montemayor. Brides's Editorial Guidelines. Fact checked by Cherisse Harris. Cherisse Harris is a fact-checker with a focus on lifestyle, beauty, and parenting. Well, most. Whatever the reason, "they need to address it themselves. It comes down to a need for validation; if he can't perform with his significant other, is he less of a man?

An easy way to counter those feelings of inadequacy is to try to find a physical connection with someone new.

Sex triggers dopamine receptors—the pleasure center of the brain. And like anything else that triggers dopamine—see: cocaine, heroin—it can be addictive. For some people, dopamine activates more from sex than from other things.

Fellas, don't do that. Remember: "very few instances. Or, to use another one of Mark's terms, he suffers from "Sexual Inhibition due to the Threat of Performance Consequences. And he's going likely to keep cheating even if he's already been busted for it. To discover more amazing secrets about living your best life, click here to follow us on Instagram! All Rights Reserved. The study identified eight key motivating factors that contribute to infidelity.

But they do offer a helpful framework for better understanding why people cheat. Maybe you just discovered your partner cheated. You might want to make your partner go through the same emotions so they really understand the pain they caused you. Regardless of the underlying cause, anger can act as a powerful motivator to become intimate with someone else. When you first fall in love with someone, you might experience passion, excitement, and rushes of dopamine from simply getting a text from them.

But the intensity of these feelings usually fades over time. Sure, stable, lasting love exists. But those first-date butterflies will only take you so far. This can make it harder to leave a relationship that still provides a sense of family, friendship, stability, and safety. But staying in a relationship without romantic love may lead to a desire to experience love again and motivate infidelity.

Simply having an opportunity to cheat can make infidelity more likely. Other factors often but not always add to the motivation to cheat. You might not choose to cheat if only one or two factors were involved. But this combination of motivating factors — the distance in your relationship, your feelings about your appearance, the attention of your coworker — can make infidelity more likely. People who have a hard time with commitment may be more likely to cheat in some cases.

In this case, one partner might end up cheating as a way of avoiding commitment, even if they actually would prefer to stay in the relationship. Many people choose to stay in the relationship, often hoping things will improve, especially if the relationship is otherwise fulfilling. So we asked relationship experts about why men cheat, along with what defines cheating, signs to watch out for, and what to do if infidelity has infiltrated your relationship.

Many of these behaviors might apply to people of all genders, but they can definitely be relevant to men. Although people of all genders might do cheat for this reason, Birkel explains that men may be less likely to have difficult conversations with their partner about their own needs and the relationship. If they're looking for a way out, they may see cheating as a means to an end. Despite what gender norms may tell us about men, cheating doesn't always happen for purely physical reasons.

If they're feeling unseen or disconnected from their partner, Page says, "those things hurt and make us go into a zone where we protect ourselves," adding, "when this happens a lot over time, the impulse to think about sex with other people goes up significantly.

And generally speaking, men are "much less likely to have a good social support system" as far as close male friends, Birkel says. In those instances, the compassion and support from another woman in his life may be very welcome.

If a partner has cheated, there could be sociopathic tendencies or narcissistic traits involved. Birkel adds that often, when an opportunity to cheat presents itself, "There are certain people who don't have a good ability to be understanding of other people's emotions or the impact of their behavior on other people—narcissistic qualities. Notably, most people have some level of narcissistic behaviors, and not every person with narcissistic behaviors is a full-blown narcissist with narcissistic personality disorder.

The same can be said for sociopathy, aka antisocial personality disorder. Some people act out and cheat out of anger, jealousy, or a desire for revenge, says Birkel. Even if their partner hasn't cheated on them, if they've done something to upset their partner i. If one partner is dealing with a substance abuse problem, instances of cheating may become much more likely.

Similarly, Page says depression and anxiety can also increase that impulse-driven behavior, because "if depression and anxiety are intense, it can really exacerbate the need to get relief—and relief can often come in the form of someone really attractive outside the relationship. Feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem can also drive someone to cheat, particularly if they're not getting that validation in their own relationship, Page and Birkel note.

He adds that sexual issues such as erectile dysfunction can also drive someone to "look for someone newer and more exciting to prove to themselves that they're still sexual potent and capable. In some cases, cheating can be the result of one partner denying their own sexual or gender identity.

Someone may be struggling with accepting they are gay or bisexual, and "they want to experiment, want to explore," Page says. And you desire to explore sex as well as identity around that because it's a hidden part of yourself.

Lastly, Birkel and Page both agree that many of these reasons fall under the category of emotional immaturity. According to Page, it often comes down to simply "poor judgment, lack of willpower, lack of self-control, and immaturity.

There is no right or wrong answer to this, as the truth is, it's different for every couple. That's why it's a good conversation to get out of the way early in a relationship. Particularly nowadays, with polyamory, open relationships , and other approaches to dating becoming more common, along with the prevalence of porn and social media, every relationship will have different things they are OK—and definitely not OK—with.

What's most important is that one partner doesn't override the other person's needs and feelings around this.