DRAWING A LINE ON CHEATING
Opinions differ between genders
About 10 per cent of Canadians, and more men than women, say they have cheated on their spouse, but 22 per cent have seriously considered it, according to a poll by Mainstreet Research for Postmedia News taken in the wake of the data breach of Ashley Madison, the online infidelity service.
“Most Canadians say they have not cheated, though many have thought about it,” said Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Research. “The numbers are more or less equal, however, when we look at those who have seriously considered cheating on their partner.”
Thirteen per cent of male respondents and eight per cent of women admitted to cheating, while 20 per cent of women and 23 per cent of men admitted they have considered cheating.
Those numbers might help explain the popularity of Ashley Madison, whose slogan is “Life is short, have an affair.” The site was targeted by hackers who last week released the names of tens of millions of purported clients, leading to what police have described as a wave of extortion attempts, other online scams and suicides that may be related to the disclosures.
“Canadians agree, for the most part, on what constitutes cheating,” said Maggi. “But there are some things Canadians disagree on, and when they do, the difference falls mainly among gender lines.”
Specifically, 17 per cent of women believe watching pornography constitutes cheating compared to nine per cent of men.
Seventeen per cent of men considered visiting a strip club to be infidelity, compared to 19 per cent of women. From there, the disparity between genders becomes less discernible.
When it comes to kissing someone other than their spouse, sending a sexually explicit message (sexting), or signing up for a dating website or service, the numbers are the same, although it is interesting to note that for most of the relationship offences proposed, more men say they are “not sure.”
A major consensus among most Canadians, male and female, is that sleeping with a prostitute or having sex with someone other than your spouse is adulterous.
But, for Maggi, what’s unusual is the few who disagree with that definition.
“Surprisingly, for me, is that a small percentage of the population, among both genders, does not consider those things cheating,” said Maggi, referring to the six per cent of Canadians who do not find sex with someone outside the marriage to be illicit and the eight per cent who feel the same about having sex with a prostitute.
Mainstreet polled a random sample of 2,459 Canadians across the country. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.98 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.