Husbands Who Earn Less Than Their Wives Are More Likely To Cheat

New findings published in the journal American Sociological Review reveal that spouses who make less than their partners may be more likely to cheat.

"You would think that people would not want to ‘bite the hand that feeds them' so to speak, but that is not what my research shows," Christin Munsch, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut, said in a statement. "Instead, the findings indicate people like feeling relatively equal in their relationships. People don't like to feel dependent on another person."

For the study, researchers found that men in a dependent situation were highly prone to infidelity. However, this was also true among both sexes. It was best if there was financial equality in the relationship, the researchers found.

On the other hand, men were least likely to cheat if they brought in about 70 percent of the couple's total income. However, anything before or after that could run into issues with infidelity. On another note, women who earned 100 percent of the family's income were least likely to cheat. 

The findings were based on data from 2,757 straight people in the same relationship for at least a year as gathered by the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth between 2001 and 2011. Participants involved in the study were between the ages of 18 and 32. 

"We don't really like inequity, and there's probably something about masculinity that means men really don't like it."

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