Couples are deluded about cheating
Study finds 42 per cent believe people of the opposite sex have cheated or will cheat, but many are certain their own partners are faithful
Humans are notorious for thinking they're better than everyone else.
When asked to rate themselves on attractiveness, intelligence, driving ability — you name it — they consistently say they're above average, which obviously isn't mathematically possible.
So it makes sense that people also believe their relationships are healthier than other folks'.
Specifically, people think their own romantic partner has a much lower chance of cheating than the average member of the opposite sex.
That's according to recent research, cited on Science of Relationships, from the University of Calgary and McMaster Children's Hospital. For the study, researchers recruited about 200 university students who'd been involved in heterosexual dating relationships for at least three months.
Those participants filled out an online questionnaire related to their beliefs and expectations about infidelity. (The researchers note that they didn't explicitly define the term "infidelity," so participants were left to use their own interpretations.)
Participants reported that they believe there's about a 42 per cent chance that the average person of the opposite sex either has cheated on their partner or will do so at some point.