Why do people cheat? Research by Gleeden, India’s first extramarital dating app, had found that 55 per cent of married Indians had confessed to being unfaithful to their partner at least once. The same survey found that 48 per cent of Indians said it was possible to be in love with two people at the same time, and 46 percent believed that you could cheat on a person while still being in love with them.
Interestingly, another dating website for married people, Ashley Madison conducted a survey for the approximate age when people are most likely to cheat on their partner. The assessment, made independent of new dating trends like Polyamory, included over 2,099 participants and was divided under the following brackets: 18 and under, 19 to 29, 30 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 to 59, 60 to 69, and 70 and older.
According to the data pulled from their survey, Ashley Madison lists out the three age brackets where people are most likely to cheat.
1. Ages: 30-39
Out of all the participants surveyed, 32 per cent of them confessed to having been unfaithful to their partner between the ages of 30 and 39. According to the dating website, most of their male clients sign up for the app at the age of 36, and women when they’re 33. The 30-39 age range is a crucial one; it's usually the period where people in traditional relationships opt to get married. So the most likely time for a person to cheat is the first few years after tying the knot; when the novelty of being a newlywed starts to wear off.
2. Ages: 19-29
The next age range for when individuals are most likely to cheat on their partners is the group falling between the ages of 19 and 29. The survey lists 28 per cent of people fessing up to their first experience with infidelity during this time. The first flush of young love starts to wean off, and expectations about marriage and a secure future start to creep in. More often than not, these expectations don’t measure up and people tend to start seeking out validation (both emotional and physical) from elsewhere.
3. Ages: 40 to 49
24 per cent of the surveyors confessed to cheating on their partners between the years 40 and 49. Most of these individuals had been married for some time by then and even had kids. According to the data accumulated by the survey, the key reason for them straying from their relationships was the stress that was placed on them. A significant chunk of these people reported having been unfaithful after children entered the equation; either because the latter changed their feelings towards their partner or because having kids reminded them about the carefree times they used to have earlier.
