Want to know if your wife will cheat? Ask about her mother, survey says

Men and women cheat on their partners at about the same rate, but they have vastly different reasons for cheating, studies have shown.

The two sexes also have different indicators that they will cheat in the future, a new survey has found.

Illicit Encounters, a dating website for married people looking to have an affair, took a survey of its users and found 71 percent of unfaithful women had mothers who also cheated in their marriages. But only 45 percent of unfaithful men had fathers who had cheated.

The unfaithful women indicated in the survey that they thought their mothers would understand their infidelity, given they had also cheated. In contrast, men feared their father’s disapproval and 86 percent said if their father told them to stop an affair they would.

“Deep down they fear the potential backlash from their fathers, irrespective of whether they have a history of cheating themselves,” said Christian Grant, a spokesman for Illicit Encounters.

A study by Indiana University in 2011 found about 19 percent of women and 23 percent of men have reported cheating. The same study found women were more likely to form emotional bonds while cheating, while men’s affairs were more likely to be strictly physical.

This story was originally published October 28, 2016 at 9:25 AM with the headline "Want to know if your wife will cheat? Ask about her mother, survey says."