Men are more likely to cry over losing their job than if they discover their partner is cheating on them, according to a recent ING Direct Survey.
The survey found that 46 percent of men said they would be more upset about losing their job than having an unfaithful spouse.
The opposite sex had opposite results with about 44 percent of women in the survey claiming they’d be more upset about their partner cheating than losing a job.
“There’s clearly a dwindling urgency for monogamy,” said Noel Biderman, president of AshleyMadison.com, a dating website targeted at married people looking to have affairs.
“Sex is not a paramount importance and it seems to me that this notion of monogamy is the causation of good relationships crumbling. No wonder more and more women are having affairs; they’re consistently taking a back seat to their husband’s careers and this recent data is further evidence of that. “
Only 40 percent of women would be more upset at losing a job and 39% of men admitted to a likely breakdown if their spouse was cheating on them.
“Men’s machismo on some level is measured by what kind of job they have,” explained Carlyle Jansen, of the sex shop, Good For Her. “Women have that to some extent, but clearly not in as many women who have partners they rely on. It’s not so much reflected as their strength as women.”
For a man, the loss of a job can be devastating to his identity, his sense of self worth, and his self respect. The effects will also be felt at home if his income is the primary income; a job loss may cause his wife to react negatively out of fear due to a loss of security.
Biderman said he wasn’t really surprised by the infidelity research.
“The timing is interesting,” he said. “People could sit there and say that anxiety’s been hanging over their head for the last two years (with the recession), but I think society has clearly been moving in a trend where values, if they had to create a hierarchy, is about economics and raising kids together and there is a de-emphasis on sex.”
