Do you think that extramarital relationships are morally wrong? Well, ninety one percent of people do. However, men are predisposed to wander due to their genes. A fifth of married men had on the side affairs over the last two decades. More than 10 per cent of women who are "programmed" to be loyal to one man also had liaisons.
The most common excuse given is that the marital relationship is not fulfilling. Of course, the proclaimed reason has little to do with the motivation. Other reasons put forward are moral flaws of one party, or this is the thing to do in today's society.
Throughout history men have been away from home sowing their wild oats to increase the number of offspring, while their partners remained tied to the kitchen to feed the couple's children. There have always been women who have not followed this path who have lived a profligate existence.
A new slant on this is that some women have the vasopressin receptor gene which makes for promiscuity. In research on twins it was found that women who had extramarital relationships had one of five variants of the gene. Indeed, forty per cent of women who had promiscuous behavior had a gene variant. This is surprising as women are believed to be driven into relationships by emotions rather than high genetic sexual drive as in men.
The presence of the gene in men is difficult on measure due to the overriding mating drive, though many faithful men had a variant of the gene. It seems that the environment may have a role in the opportunities for men and women to stray, but genes are the main cause.
✴ Genetics by Ty Buchanan ✴
