PH
People are often extremely confident about what they'd do if a partner cheated.
Actual betrayal puts that prediction to the test.
A 2026 study specifically examining 400 heterosexual women compared anticipated reactions with women's previous real experiences of partner infidelity.
Nearly half of the women had actually experienced cheating.
Among those women, 43% had remained with their partner.
The researchers found that previous infidelity experiences were relevant to women's anticipated responses to future cheating.
Imagining betrayal from a distance and making a decision while emotionally attached to the person aren't necessarily equivalent situations.
© The Journal of Psychology (2026)