survey Study Finds Men were far more Forgiving of a Same-Sex Affair

Half of men would forgive their girlfriends if they cheated, but only if it were with another woman;while only a fifth of women would forgive their partner’s gay affair, according to a recent survey.

The University of Texas at Austin in the United States conducted a study in which 718 students were asked hypothetical questions about a partner’s cheating, The survey found men were far more forgiving of a same-sex affair than women, with the fairer sex more willing to gloss over their partner’s fling with a woman than another man.

The research published in the psychology journal Personality and Individual Differences, shows while 50 per cent of men would forgive their partners for having a lesbian affair, only 22 per cent would forgive their girlfriend’s cheating with another man. The results are reversed in responses from female participants, with only 21 per cent of women asked able to forgive their man’s gay fling, while 28 per cent would take their boyfriend back after an affair with another woman.

The results suggest a male’s greater acceptance of a lesbian affair is due to the fact that the cheating couple could not conceive, according to evolutionary psychologist, Jaime Confer - the study’s lead author. “A robust jealousy mechanism is activated in men and women by different types of cues—those that threaten paternity in men and those that threaten abandonment in women,” she told Reuters. 

Confer also believes the acceptance generates thought’s in men that there could be “an opportunity to mate with more than one woman simultaneously, satisfying men’s greater desire for more partners.”

Confer and co-author Mark D. Cloud admitted their surprise at the results of their study: “These findings are even more remarkable given that homosexuality attitude surveys show men have more negative attitudes toward homosexuality and to be less supportive of civil rights for same-sex couples than women,” the authors wrote in their paper. “However, this general trend of men showing lower tolerance for homosexuality than women is reversed in the one fitness-enhancing situation-female homosexuality.”

The researchers believe women’s’ attitudes towards a partners gay fling could be down to a warning sign of dissatisfaction with the relationship.

Jonny Payne  http://news.pinkpaper.com