A survey by the University of Chicago suggested that 25 percent of married men and 17 percent of married women have been unfaithful to their spouses. The survey concluded that only 35 percent of marriages survived the revelation of infidelity, although the survey had no way of determining whether infidelity was the sole cause, or even the principle cause, of acknowledged divorces. Different studies have produced significantly different numbers and correlations, making a reliable divorce rate for cheating unachievable.
Moreover, the definition of infidelity has even become fuzzy. The Infidelity Facts website reports that one or both spouses admit infidelity in 47 percent of marriages, but it describes infidelity as either physical or emotional. The spread of Internet remote sex sites and Internet pornography has further muddied the waters as to how to define cheating. Some people believe commercial phone sex alienates the affection every bit as much as a physical affair. Even among those who cleave to the strictest definition of cheating, there is still no way to calculate a valid divorce-infidelity causal connection.
Further complicating the question regarding the actual rate is the fact that raw divorce rates themselves are not very reliable."Time" magazine looked at how divorce rates are calculated and published in May 2010, and it found that most divorce statistics are simply regurgitated through various publications until they are widely accepted. It turns out that many marriage-and-divorce statistics are not well-kept by many states, and that the numbers vary dramatically depending on the methods used to collect the data. Determining how many cheating spouses are divorced becomes impossible when the number of divorces is simply not really known.
Unverifiable data from marriage counselors and divorce attorneys confirm what most people believe from experience: Cheating is a good way to get divorced. Any list of the top reasons for divorce will have infidelity near the top. But infidelity also is often forgiven. Other factors in a marriage can create the conditions for a divorce, including poor communication, interference from family, abuse, cultural differences, addiction, money, disagreements on how to handle children and sexual incompatibility.