Well, this is interesting!

A psychologist at The University of Texas at Austin has come up with some fascinating data on infidelity and who stays and who goes after a SAME SEX affair. According to the recently published study men are TWICE as likely to stay with a girlfriend who has cheated with another woman than with a woman who has cheated with another guy.

On the flipside, only 21 percent of women were likely to stay with a man who had a same sex affair (versus 28 percent who could ‘handle’ a more traditional affair)

I have my own theories as to why this is the case and they are rooted in social acceptability. Let’s face it, girl-on-girl sexual imagery is everywhere and used to sell everything. Look at Katy Perry’s breakout hit from a couple of years ago.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAp9BKosZXs[/youtube]

Kissing a girl was something she did on a whim in a bar and the best part about it (outside of the fact that she liked it) was the cherry Chapstick. You see, fun, light-hearted, non-threatening. Then there’s this advertisement for a hotel in Las Vegas, also with its share of girl on girl imagery.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1D808tblYc[/youtube]

I don’t think it’s an accident that you get the impression there will be naked Twister later in this spot. And if you notice, the homoerotism is limited to just the women in the spots.

Now it turns out there might be more than just Madison Avenue thinking at work here. According to the Austin researchers, men were more threatened by an affair that could cast doubt on the paternity of their offspring. But if their girlfriend slept with another woman, on a basic level, the men often saw the sexual possibilities beyond the betrayal. (I call it the porn effect!)

As you can see, though not thrilled with either prospect, women whose mates had same sex affairs, were more inclined to read that as a sign that he was not happy in the relationship, either physically or otherwise and see his behavior as a precursor to him leaving.

For me personally, I guess I mirror these findings; I could see myself more likely staying with my partner if he had an affair with another woman, as opposed to another man. And crazy as it sounds, Buff probably falls in line with these findings too.

But what do you think? Do you agree that the reason a man would STAY after a same sex affair and LEAVE after a heterosexual one is rooted in nature – or influenced by society? And what about the women? Would you stay with your partner if they had a same sex affair? Start commenting everyone…