In 2021, around 21 percent of respondents in the United States admitted to have cheated on any partner, current or previous. This is an increase compared to last year, when 20 percent admitted to the same.

This statistic shows the results of a survey among adult Americans in 2016 on how often they feel the need to lie or cheat. During the survey, 13 percent of respondents stated they occasionally have to lie or to cheat.

In 2021, around 10 percent of respondents in the United States admitted to have cheated on their current partner. This is roughly the same as in the previous year, when 10 percent admitted to the same.

This statistic shows the results of a survey in the United States in 2012 among singles on infidelity in relationships. 7.7 percent of respondents said they have been unfaithful themselves to a partner before.

This statistic shows the moral stance of Americans regarding an affair between a married man and a married woman in 2018. During the survey, 10 percent of respondents stated that they think an affair between a married man and a married woman is morally acceptable.

The moral acceptance of social issues in the US

More than two thirds of respondents to a survey in the United States responded that they believe that sex between an unmarried man and woman is morally acceptable, while one third believed that it is morally wrong and only 1 percent stated that it is not a moral issue. Unsurprisingly, when posing the same question to respondents of the Mormon faith, a significantly higher percentage stated they believed that premarital sex is morally wrong.

Regarding other morally acceptable or unacceptable actions, divorce had an acceptance rate of 71 percent among the American population, and the use of birth control was deemed acceptable – remarkably higher than the acceptance rates for premarital sex.

In the United States, the likelihood of divorce after the first marriage is at about 41 percent, and proportionally higher the more times one gets hitched; and it is increasingly more accepted than it has been in the past. Interestingly, the 2015 results for premarital sex acceptance in the United States are quite different from the results of a similar survey back in 2013, conducted globally, in which 36 percent of respondents in the United States said that premarital sex is not a moral issue, only 29 percent responded that it was acceptable and 30 percent stated it was unacceptable. The country with the least acceptance was Pakistan, where no one responded that premarital sex was acceptable. This is not surprising when taking into account that Pakistan is an Islamic Republic. In contrast, Czechia had the highest acceptance rates, a country with one of the largest atheist populations worldwide.

In a 20234 survey, 23 percent of the Brazilian population stated they had cheated on their partners. However, the vast majority of respondents said they were faithful.

A survey conducted in 2017 reveals that the largest groups of Italian respondents cheated on their partner either with a friend or with a colleague. In particular, 25.4 percent of interviewees in Italy stated that they betrayed their partner with a friend, while 22.6 percent did so with a colleague. However, it was common to cheat with strangers as well. The third largest group (17.5 percent of individuals) affirmed that the last time they cheated on their partner was with a stranger met in a particular context such as in the disco, at the gym, on holidays, etcetera.

Reasons for cheating  

The most common reason why people in Italy cheated on their partner was the sexual attraction towards another person, indicated by 27.1 percent of respondents. About 22 percent of interviewees stated that the betrayal was the consequence of an argument with the current partner, while for 20 percent the mental attraction played a determinant role. Nevertheless, most of the people who stated to cheat did not intent to leave their partner. In 2017, 61.4 percent of respondents declared they did not want to break up their relationship after cheating. Additionally, 27.2 percent were willing to leave the partner, but they did not do it. Most of the people who cheated would not repeat the betrayal.

The follow up 

For the largest part of people, cheating was only a one-time adventure. 31.3 percent of Italian respondents considered their last betrayal a “one-night” escapade. However, for about 30 percent of interviewees, the infidelity became a love story that lasted some years and eventually came to an end. Additionally, for 24.9 percent of respondents cheating meant a short love story that lasted some weeks or months and then ended. Lastly, 5.4 percent of Italian interviewees declared to have a permanent lover.