Study: Men Who Earn Less Than Wives Are More Likely to Cheat

By: Laura Meyers

In a new study by Christin L. Munsch, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut found that married men who earn less than 70 percent of the household income are more likely to cheat on their wives than economically independent wives and breadwinner husbands.

The study involved 2,757 married Americans between the ages of 18 and 32, and found that many couples attempt to restore relationship equality through infidelity.

“Extramarital sex allows men undergoing a masculinity threat – that is, not being primary breadwinners, as is culturally expected – to engage in behavior culturally associated with masculinity,” Munsch says. “For men, especially young men, the dominant definition of masculinity is scripted in terms of sexual virility and conquest, particularly with respect to multiple sex partners. Thus, engaging in infidelity may be a way of reestablishing threatened masculinity. Simultaneously, infidelity allows threatened men to distance themselves from, and perhaps punish, their higher-earning spouses.”

Turns out, a non-traditional balance in household income has been proved to have a slight, directly negative effect on both genders.

“Previous research finds that women who are primary breadwinners are acutely aware of the ways in which they deviate from the cultural expectation that equates men with breadwinning. Consequently, previous research finds these women suffer from increased anxiety and insomnia and engage in what sociologists call ‘deviance neutralization behaviors.’”

TLR reported on a similar study in a New York Times article that said, “Specifically, if men did all of what the researchers characterized as feminine chores like folding laundry, cooking or vacuuming — the kinds of things many women say they want their husbands to do — then couples had sex 1.5 fewer times per month than those with husbands who did what were considered masculine chores, like taking out the trash or fixing the car. It wasn’t just the frequency that was affected, either — at least for the wives. The more traditional the division of labor, meaning the greater the husband’s share of masculine chores compared with feminine ones, the greater his wife’s reported sexual satisfaction.”

Now, by no means should egalitarianism justify cheating. However, there is something to be said about the effect traditional gender roles have on making both men and women in a relationship feel dutiful and appreciated. I know, I know.. hate facts are terrible.