The reason for this, the study posits, is that “Women are more likely to mention relationship dissatisfaction as a reason for their affair. Potentially… the affair may be a wake-up call for their partners, leading to positive behavioral change.” On average, the study found, men reported a sharp decline in life satisfaction and self esteem after the event of infidelity.

In another interesting detail, it turned out that, among both the people who cheated and those who were cheated on, most indicators of relationship well-being had been declining for as much as seven years before the incidents of cheating began. The five indicators measured were relationship satisfaction, intimacy, admiration, dominance (how often a partner gets their way in a disagreement), and conflict (how often the partners were annoyed or angry with each other). Men who cheated, interestingly, reported lower relationship dissatisfaction levels than women who cheated on their partner.