Health

Why Cheating Is So Popular After Christmas

January 12th 2017

January is often considered a bummer month due to cold weather and post-holiday blues. A new report from extramarital dating site Gleeden has uncovered another reason to feel depressed, at least if you're married: cheating is also at an all-time high.

Gleeden, which boasts more than three million users, said in a new report that their biggest sign-up day of the year is the second Monday after Christmas, which fell on January 9 this year. In Gleeden's survey of 13,000 people, more than half of the participants said they were more likely to cheat in January in hopes of feeling more empowered and free following the holidays.

“By registering with Gleeden or spending more time on the online platform, members are seeking a means to inject a little excitement into their everyday life," Gleeden communications director Solene Paillet told The Sun. "Routine may weigh down on individuals, or be rather oppressive when it follows extended periods devoted to family life. This is the result of a legitimate human need: to have fun and think of oneself.”

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Why people cheat.

Kelly Campbell, an associate professor of psychology at California State University, San Bernardino, wrote in a March 2014 piece for Psychology Today that there are three main reasons why people are unfaithful:

  • Individual reasons: "The phrase 'once a cheater, always a cheater' refers to individual reasons for cheating — qualities about the person that make him or her more prone to commit infidelity." Campbell wrote that gender, religion, personality, and political orientation can all play a role in someone's cheating tendencies.
  • Relationship reasons: "People also cheat because of relationship reasons — characteristics about their relationship itself that are unsatisfying."
  • Situational reasons: "A person might not have a personality prone to cheating, and might be in a perfectly happy relationship, but something about their environment puts them at risk for infidelity. Some situations are more tempting than others."

Coincidentally, January is also a popular month for divorce.

Richard Klineburger, a Philadelphia-area attorney and part owner of the firm Klineburger & Nussey, told CBS Philly the idea of a "fresh start" is one reason people may choose to part ways with their spouses this time of year.

“The last thing someone wants to do is to be in a situation where they’re ruining holidays for children, ruining holidays for family," Klineburger said. "People have resolutions, people want to make a fresh start. People get their Christmas bonuses, end of the year bonuses… and they have that money to get an apartment, to pay an attorney.”

[H/T Women's Health]

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