A new study of identical twins says that there may be a genetic basis to women's infidelity. The research was quickly embraced by adulterers of both sexes, but some scientists say that "the science isn't in on this one."
Will women everywhere claim the gene defense?
By staff reporter Russell D'Arby
Is she a cheater by nature or did cultural influences conspire to make her that way? A new scientific study may finally shed some light on a question that men have been asking for centuries.
Researchers at St Thomas' Hospital in London held a press conference yesterday to announce the results of a confidential survey of more than 1,600 pairs of identical female twins. Participants in the study were asked to complete a confidential questionnaire regarding their attitudes towards sex and infidelity, the number of sexual partners they'd had and the number of times they'd cheated on a partner.
The study confirmed what husbands and boyfriends of women who cheat have long suspected: that such women are 'sluttier' than their faithful counterparts. "Not surprisingly, the average number of sexual partners was significantly higher among respondents who had been unfaithful compared with those who had remained faithful–a mean of eight compared with four," said Professor Tim Spector, Director of the Twin Research Unit at St Thomas' Hospital, London.
Of the women who participated in the study, 20% confessed to have cheated on a partner. Other key findings: 25% of the respondents were divorced, and 98% claimed to be heterosexual. No mention was made as to whether any of the twin sets had cheated on a partner with one another.
Dr. Spector is the author of a popular guide to genetic determinism entitled Your Genes Unzipped: A Guide to How Your Genetic Inheritance Can Shape Your Life. In that volume, he argues that genes determine everything from our success or failure in a chosen career to how attractive we are to the opposite sex.
Spector is part of a growing, albeit controversial, field known as evolutionary psychology, an attempt to explain human behavior by arguing that our evolution has "hard-wired" us to act in particular ways. In recent years, evolutionary psychologists have discovered that men are attracted to younger women for genetic reasons. Such men, say the researchers, aren't just attracted to young women because they are 'hotter' than their mature counterparts, but because they're more likely to be able to reproduce.
In yesterday's press conference, Dr. Spector said that he hopes that his fidelity study will bolster the field of evolutionary psychology. "The fact that psychosocial traits such as a number of sexual partners and infidelity appear to behave as other common complex genetic traits in humans, in that they have a heritable component, lends support to evolutionary psychologists' theories on the origins of human behavior."
The full study will appear later this month in the journal Twin Research.
Today's announcement of the survey's findings did not refer to the methodology used to conduct the study. Nor was there any discussion of the possibility of removing the female gene for infidelity.
If you are a twin (identical or non-identical) over 15 years of age who would like to participate in a study at the Twin Research Unit at St Thomas' Hospital, please call 020 7188 5555.
What about non-twin males? I would DIE to know how infidelous I am!
Posted by: John McMahan | December 12, 2004 at 02:06 PM