Thread: Why Smart Men Are Less Likely to Cheat

Interesting....are men who are smarter better at hiding that they cheating or is he smart enough to just not cheat? Hmmmm.....I bet they are smarter at hiding that they cheated.....

Ever wonder how a man can be stupid enough to cheat on his girlfriend or wife? It turns out there might be something behind that thought: A new study shows that monogamous men might actually have higher IQs.

Men cheat for a lot of different reasons. They might feel emotionally disconnected from their significant other, be looking for danger or adventure, or even be acting on their apparent biological impulses. According to a recent study, however, men who cheat might not be smart enough to say no.

This study, undertaken by Dr. Satoshi Kanazawa of the London School of Economics and Political Science, and reported by the New York Daily News, suggests that the higher a man's IQ is, the less likely he is to cheat on his significant other. Kanazawa suggests that as men evolve, they become smarter and less selfish, thus they are less likely to stray.

Kanazawa's conclusion stems from his analysis of two U.S. surveys that studied the IQs and social attitudes of adolescents and adults. His findings show that very intelligent men are better at resisting their primal urges and staying true to their commitments.

Does this mean your best bet is to find a really smart man and expect him not to cheat? Or are men with higher IQs just better at keeping their cheating ways a secret? With statistics showing that 50 to 60 percent of married men cheat during some point in their relationship, it's hard to tell.

In another study, marriage counselor M. Gary Neuman estimates that one in 2.7 men will cheat on their spouses, and that most women will never find out. With a number this high, it doesn't seem to matter how smart or dumb a man is. (And, of course, some women are just as guilty of looking for a little love or lust on the side.)

There might be a link between men with higher IQs and a lower incidence of cheating, but how many men really want to admit that they have been adulterous? Evolution is one thing, but so is being smart enough to hide what you've done and never admitting it to anyone.

Why Smart Men Are Less Likely to Cheat - Personal Articles

Originally Posted by JavaBlack

One possible reason for this comes from other studies.
Of the three dimensions of love, commitment is the one that predicts staying together through thick and thin. People with greater levels of commitment weather through periods of emotional turmoil, even after passion winds down.
Commitment is the cognitive trait. It would be the most related to rational thought, as opposed to flighty emotion or lust. I'd imagine a higher IQ correlates with a higher propensity toward cognitive commitment.

Dang Java, sometimes I have to read your posts twice, lol....your posts are written so well.....your right. Absolutely. Commitment is what a couple needs to carry them through any hardship in life. Many try and can't do it. Marriage vows are said for a reason and they are not easy to forget. Not even for men....seriously. They know the vows. Women abide them moreso than men I believe at least they try to. Not that women don't cheat, but I believe women have greater patience, perserverance, and understanding in trying to resolve any issues the couple may be having.

Originally Posted by Lary

I dont know how much it has to do with how smart either party is but Im pretty sure it has alot to do with how stable the individual is mentally and emotionally as well as how healthy the relationship is. I bet 100% of people who cheat, man or woman, are either unstable emotionally and or mentally...and/or theyre in an unhealthy relationship. Based on that, the best way to avoid being cheated on would be to not start a relationship with an unstable person and dont stay in an unhealthy relationship.
If I had followed my own advice in the past I suppose I wouldnt have been cheated on by almost all the women ive been in a relationship with lol :mrgreen:

But you don't know in the beginning, and the start of your relationship is fantastic, and then WHAM! Here it comes.....so how do you know?

Originally Posted by Lary

thats the tricky part leet lol .....even if its obvious the person is a mess, if youre inlove you dont see it as obvious as it is. I think most people dont ever think that they could ever fall for someone thats very unstable. I mean ive been in relationships with some real wackjobs lol, but when i look back I dont remember noticing all the obvious signs before I started a relationship with them...I only noticed when I didnt like them anymore (usually after they cheated on me lol)....I think its alot easier to recognize serious character flaws when you dont like the person.

I'll agree with that. You don't see it if your in love.....until your way into the relationship and then your like, christ, wasted time.

Originally Posted by JavaBlack

I disagree on cheaters being unstable individuals. A lot of cheating is the expected result of our culture.
We idealize romantic love (passion), the flightiest and most superficial element of love. People base marriages on it. So when it starts to fade... and then when suddenly someone has another chemical reaction, our culture sends people mixed messages. One of those messages is that this chemical reaction is the true basis of love.
Of course people are going to cheat then. Just like they divorce in high numbers.
Our society undervalues commitment and overvalues passion.
We criticize cultures with arranged marriages (partially because we get them confused with forced ones), but these cultures have something going for them. They believe that love grows in a marriage and has to be worked at.
Too many in our culture think it all flows naturally from a chemical reaction.

Hmmm, but Java, most often than not, and you hear about it all the time, the woman, in an arranged marriage is usually very unhappy and doesn't want to be with her "arranged" partner.......