Why women forgive cheating more than men

An opinion poll run here on Pulse a while back asked if readers thought women cheated more than men and more readers voted to say yes.

That aside and back to the issue of cheating and why women are more likely to forgive a cheating man than he would forgive them if the tables were turned.

According to a 2017 survey of over 1,200 people by Illicit Encounters, a dating website for married people, 60% of women had previously forgiven a partner for cheating on them, while just 38% of men said they’d be up for forgiving a partner were they to cheat.

The researchers think this is because women tend to be more likely to believe they have the ability to change their partner. Only 20% of men believe they’d be able to change a cheater.

According to Metro UK, “basically, men reckon that the saying ‘once a cheat, always a cheat’ is true, while women are more likely to dismiss cheating as a one time thing that can be worked through together.”

And the effect of this is that due to this forgiving nature of women, they are more likely to be cheated on because if a partner doesn’t see any consequences for an affair, they’re likely to do it again.

A spokesperson for Illicit Encounters puts it simply by saying: “If your actions are less likely to have consequences, then you’ll have no problem acting upon your desires.

“In other words, if you know you can have an affair and get away with it, what’s stopping you from cheating?

“Unfortunately, this sends out the wrong kind of signal to men, and many take advantage of it.”

If the cycle continues in the manner this study result paints, women still have a lot more forgiving to do and men will keep forgetting to return the gesture.

Life’s just unfair, innit?