Can infidelity actually run in the family? If yes, then fathers and mothers have a lot of questions to answer for their children’s infidelity or sexual escapades.
If the findings of some studies are anything to go by, it appears the usual language, ‘Like father, like son, or like mother, like daughter’ may have found its application in the family line once again.
While many cheating spouses who are caught have ready excuses for such infraction, some scientists may have made things easier for them by providing a scientific explanation to why people cheat.
The researchers from the University of Queensland found that 63 per cent of unfaithful behaviour in men and 40 per cent in women were due to genetic interference. They also identified a single gene in women, variations of which could make them more likely to cheat on a partner.
It does mean that beyond the obvious facial, voice, physical and sometimes character resemblance that is associated in parent-children relationship, infidelity, as well as other good and bad traits, could be inherited or handed down from parents to children through genes.
Even though it is more likely for men to do it, both men and women who are not faithful in their relationship may only be exhibiting some of the traits passed to them by their grandparents or parents through birth.
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, infidelity is the act of not being faithful to one’s wife, husband or partner by having sex with somebody else.
Even though people have extra-marital affairs for different reasons, it is worthy of note that one of the main issues combating the success of many marriages since the beginning of time is infidelity, and more so that parents have no control over which gene to donate or pass to their children.
In the study, the researchers limited their sample population to adults and examined data extracted from them. The participants, both males and females, were 7,300 twins aged between 18 and 49, all of whom were in long-term relationships at the time.
Of this population, they gathered that 9.8 per cent of men and 6.4 per cent of women had been with two or more sexual partners in the 12 months preceding the survey. When analysing their findings, they used genetic modelling to determine how much influence genes have in their sexual behaviour and found that they inherited it from their parents. The twins from the same parents exhibited the trait if their parents had more than one partner.
According to lead author of the study, Dr. Brendan Zietsch, from the university’s school of psychology, he said people’s genetic make-up influences how likely they are to have sex with someone outside their main relationship, hence, genes have a role to play in human affairs.
He said, “The results showed that 63 per cent of unfaithful behaviour in men was down to inherited genes, and 40 per cent of same in women, rates which were very surprising. We then looked for what genes could be involved.
“Isolating specific genes is more difficult because thousands of genes influence any behaviour and the effect of any individual gene is tiny, but we did find tentative evidence for a specific gene influencing infidelity in women.
“We found that women with certain variations in a gene called AVPRIA were more likely to be unfaithful. The gene is involved in production of the hormone arginine vasopressin, which is known to be involved in the regulation of social behaviour and has been linked to differences in philandering behaviour in women.”
It is therefore amazing to note that men and women who are unfaithful in their relationships might have fathers who have a reputation for womanising.
In another study, some scientists at Charles University in Prague claimed that cheating runs in the family, especially for men and that what the children observe while growing up have a way of influencing their behaviour. In a study of 86 couples, they found that men are more likely to have such sexual misbehaviour if their fathers were unfaithful when the children were growing up.
In this study, reviewed by express.co.uk, one of the researchers, Jan Havlicek, argued that when children are growing up, they observe the world around them and imbibe whatever catches their attention.
He noted that since it is usually a thing of pride for men to have more than one relationship at a time, they soon combine such social perception with what they have learnt while growing up to become another reputable womaniser.
Even though the previous study said women also pass down the trait to their daughters, Havlicek in this new study said daughters are not affected by the mother’s infidelity and that it makes them no more or less likely to cheat in the way the sons are affected by their father’s sexual behaviour.
This position has however been contested by other experts. A psychologist and sex relationship expert, Dr. Pam Spurr, said father’s behaviour is key to how sons would behave later in life because boys learn how to relate to the opposite sex by seeing how their fathers treat and relate with women.
She said, “If they find out their fathers are sneaking around and are cheating on their mothers, this can provide a model for them and shape the way they view relationships. Even though mothers cheat too, they are more discreet, so a daughter growing up with an unfaithful mother is far less likely to know about it and emulate it.
While reacting to the study, a professor of psychology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Toba Elegbeleye, said it is unlikely that infidelity could be inherited from parents because bad behaviours are not inherited, rather, they are learnt, adding that regardless, any behaviour could be unlearnt.
He explained that children’s upbringing, lifestyle, kind of friends, and more importantly, the behaviours or disposition of parents, guardians and people around them could influence them rather than gene. He however added that whichever way the child got the habit, it could be unlearnt and could be addressed through proper monitoring and tutoring.
“I want to disagree that genetic inheritance would be solely responsible for infidelity. The other aspect of it that can be inherited is called promiscuity. If you have a gene that predisposes you to be very high on sexual sensitivity, it can be inherited. But if your upbringing is one that is totally monitored, you may have been taught a way of controlling the excess behaviour. Infidelity in terms of behavioural categorisation belongs to a group of behaviour we call excess behaviour, so it’s largely not inherited, it’s learned.
“Some people may be predisposed to high-wired sexuality, but there is the place of checks and balances, whereby whatever biological inefficiencies people may have must be controlled to conform to the norms.
“Other stronger factors than hereditary that could be responsible include high libidinal energy, issue of pecuniary gain and when people do such things to fight boredom. Psychology believes that we can always learn to control whatever we inherit. So, when somebody is given to a high-calibre infidelity, the whole reason may not be tied singularly to genetic predisposition.”
He explained that when somebody has a psychological disease, such as nymphomania (excessive sexual desire by a female), it could be a result of genetic endowment, which could be inherited but that it may not directly or necessarily lead to infidelity, but could make the person indulge in other self-help sexual practices.
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