A partner being unfaithful can come as a huge shock and often a blow to the self-esteem of those involved but a new study provides hope for the future if you happen to be a woman.
The study which looked at nearly 6,000 people across multiple countries by University College London and Binghamton University in New York State who had experienced their partners being unfaithful found that the women involved in the breakups were the most likely to benefit.
With adultery being one of the main reasons for divorce, couples often breakup as a result of infidelity. One consolation for the women involved with unfaithful partners is that they ended up happier in the long term following the end of the relationship.
Unfortunately this gender advantage didn’t stretch to the ‘other woman’. They were often less happy with their new partners due to them having already demonstrated their potential to be unfaithful.
The researchers concluded that women who have come through relationships where a former partner has been unfaithful will be choosier the next time. It was even speculated that this response from women could be part of some evolutionary benefit linked to higher mating intelligence.