Why do men cheat?

Answer 1

Cheating This issue is best looked at through the lens of evolutionary psychology. Although it provides a relatively simple explanation to a complex behavior, it seems to be consistent throughout the animal kingdom with few exceptions.

Evolutionary psychology takes an observed behavior and works backwards to explain the behavior based on the ultimate causes: the desire to propagate one's genes. Thus, many behaviors (especially in mating) can be tied right back to the primal need to pass on one's genes to the next generation.

It is easy to see why mating behaviors should differ between men and women based on the ability of a man to pass on his genes verses the ability of a woman. If a woman became pregnant at every possible opportunity between puberty and menopause, she might have at most 30 children (although a Russian woman gave birth to a record 69 children; about half of them were twins). In contrast, a male could father multiple children in a single day -- he could potentially have tens of thousands of children if every possible opportunity was taken.

Going back to evolution, both men and women want to have offspring that survive to pass on their genes. Statistically, the more children an individual has, the more likely one of the offspring will survive to sexual maturity, which is the main goal. Just by this logic, it would be more advantageous (evolutionarily speaking) for a male to seek other relationships while a female is pregnant. A man will be more successful in passing on his genes if he takes on every opportunity to do so. This is essentially the basis behind polygamous relationships. Another consequence of the differences in the ability of men and women to have children is female's selectiveness in choosing a mate. A woman only has at most about 30 children to give birth to; therefore, the other half of her child's genetic code (determined by the father) needs to be desirable.

Now, with that said, it doesn't justify "cheating" behavior, especially at the human level where complex social interactions are at work. However, it is worth noting that cheating is to a certain extent hardwired into the male psyche.

Comments from Answers.com contributors Men cheat for all different reasons. But the one thing they all have in common is that they do not believe in the sanctity of marriage, keeping promises or being fair to the person they are married to. They also have another thing in common. They are unable to make sure they marry the right person and make a relationship work. They look for easy, simple solutions to boredom. I have been a relationship expert and life coach for many years. I have seen every angle there is on marriage, love and relationships. Men always make excuses for why they cheat, but the truth is that they are selfish and immature.

Men cheat for a number of reasons...

• they may be insecure
• they may not know what a good thing when they have it
• they may not like the person their with
• the other person may give the man more then what their wife/girlfriend gives
• the man may very will need more then one partner
• sex with the wife/girlfriend is not good
• their wife/girlfriend may have cheated on them
• their wife/girlfriend may not treat the man how he wants to be treated
• cheat may be all he has even seen for his mom or dad
• he is unhappy
• you don't spend enough time together