Infidelity When She Earns More

Even though Walker said otherwise, apparently men and women are still different and marital roles still matter. Randy Dotinga reports via HealthDay that when a woman earns more than her male partner, infidelity by either is more likely.

A new study finds that men are more likely to cheat if their income is much lower than what their wife or female partner makes, while women are more likely to fool around if they make more than their husband or male partner.

Most women marry men who earn more than they do. This could be another reason for women to continue do so.

Men who make less than their wives may lean toward infidelity because they feel a "gender identity threat," Munsch speculated.

What about the fact that in community property states, he has less to lose financially? If his higher-earning wife leaves him, she loses some of that money she earned and will be earning in the future. The less he earned in comparison to her, the more she stands to lose and he stands to gain.

I would also be interested if the study had a way of adjusting for sexual frequency between the spouses. Some women who are earning more than their husbands lose respect and sexual desire for him. Some are working long hours, or come home stressed or bothered from something at work and may not want to engage in lovemaking, whereas men are more likely to compartmentalize and not let a bad day at work keep him from enjoying making love to the wife. If he's getting sexually rejected from his wife, wouldn't he be more likely to stray? This is not to excuse infidelity. I don't excuse infidelity or spousal rejection, and I do think that for some couples, it makes sense for the wife to be the higher earner and for the husband to concentrate on keeping house, raising the children, and tending to his wife when she makes it home. But in general, men and women are different and marital roles still matter.