Episode 190: Women Who Stray – The Rise of Female Infidelity

Rates of infidelity have risen over the last half-century; however, if you break the data down by gender, it turns out that men’s rate of infidelity has remained relatively stable, whereas women’s has increased. So what’s behind the rise in female infidelity? And what are the implications of this for modern-day marriages and relationships? Let’s talk about it! I am joined today by author Susan Shapiro Barash. She has written thirteen nonfiction books on women’s issues. She also writes fiction under her pen name Susannah Marren. Susan’s latest book is titled A Passion for More: Affairs that Make or Break Us. In this book, Susan presents three decades of research she conducted on heterosexual women in monogamous relationships who committed infidelity. Some of the specific topics we discuss include: Are women today actually cheating more, or are they just more willing to admit to it than they were in the past? What role does technology play in women’s infidelity? How is age related to having an affair among women? In what ways do women say that affairs made their relationships or marriages better? At what point do affairs become a catalyst to leave a relationship? Be sure to check out Susan’s website to learn more. Thank you to our sponsors! The Modern Sex Therapy Institutes is one of the leading sex therapy certification programs in the world, meets all AASECT certification requirements, has 12 other specialty certifications, and a Ph.D. program in Clinical Sexology. Visit modernsextherapyinstitutes.com to learn more. Support sex science by becoming a friend of the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University. Visit kinseyinstitute.org to make a donation to support ongoing research projects on critical topics. You can also show your support by following the Kinsey Institute on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. *** Want to learn more about Sex and Psychology? Click here for previous articles or follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, or Reddit to receive updates. You can also follow Dr. Lehmiller on YouTube and Instagram. Listen and stream all episodes on Apple, Spotify, Google, or Amazon. Subscribe to automatically receive new episodes and please rate and review the podcast! Credits: Precision Podcasting (Podcast editing) and Shutterstock/Florian (Music). Image created with Canva; photos used with permission of guest.