Does infidelity automatically lead to divorce? Not necessarily says the American Psychological Association. Their research claims only 20-40% of divorces are caused by infidelity. While cheaters are more likely to get separated or divorced, it’s not automatic. In fact, the national divorce rate has been declining since the 1980’s. An article in The Signal gives some interesting statistics:
40% of adults who have ever cheated on their significant other, are currently separated or divorced.
In contrast, only 17% of adults who had remained faithful throughout their marriage can be said to no longer be together.
Roughly 50% of unfaithful partners are still married. Compare this to 76% of those who have remained faithful are actually still married. Men who cheated are more likely than their female peers to still be married.
Of those men who have previously been unfaithful to their spouses, 61% are still married, compared to 34% who are no longer together (either separated or divorced).
Lastly, only 44% of women who have been unfaithful before are still married, while 47% are either divorced or separated.
Do Second Marriages Have a Better Chance?
You’d think that after the heartache, expense, and sheer exhaustion of a divorce, a second marriage would have a better chance of lasting. Not so. In fact, the odds of the second marriage lasting are even smaller than the first. Roughly 67% to 80% of second marriages end in divorce, while third marriages crumble at an even higher rate, says Mara Opperman, relationship etiquette expert and co-founder of I Do, Now I Don’t. It is estimated that if someone cheated before, there is a 350 percent chance that they will cheat again, compared to those who have never cheated. In the same study that states that cheaters will cheat again, they found that those who have been cheated on will most likely be cheated on again.
