Thrill of the chase or something worse?

© Image Source/Rex

Another thing the experts seem to agree on is that a man’s desire to cheat is rarely motivated by pursuing someone more physically attractive than their partner. 

As Rochelle Peachey points out, ‘If we just had to be beautiful to keep our man at home Cheryl Cole or Halle Berry would not have had to deal with cheating men!’  It’s also unlikely that the illicit sex is ‘better’ per se, according to Marilyn Stowe.

‘More often than not, the sex husbands have with other women is physically ok but meaningless,’ she says. It’s the going out and getting it that seems to hold the appeal.

Indeed, Diana Parkinson believes that extramarital sex is about more than plain old attraction. ‘It’s rarely the case that a man is unfaithful because he finds someone else more physically attractive,’ she says.

‘An affair is always an escape from something, be it from financial worries, work pressure or an unhappy relationship, and sexual infidelity provides temporary feelings of power.’

A lot of men would rather give themselves an ego boost with a quick fling than actually sit down and work out why they need one in the first place.

‘There are a number of different reasons for having an affair, and it is rarely that someone else is irresistible,’ says relationship expert Keren Smedley. ‘There is usually something else going on in their relationship and at the time it seems easier to solve the problem by having an affair than by dealing with the fundamental issues.’