Why Married Women Start Having Affairs

Finding out that your spouse is cheating on you can be extremely painful. There's been a lot of speculation as to why men cheat on their wives, but why do women cheat on their husbands? The reasons for women are not very different from those of men, and they can vary from sexual dissatisfaction to feeling neglected, lonely, curious or bored. No matter the cause, it can be found within the relationship and is, more often than not, attributed to both partners, not just one of them.

As statistics indicate, at least 20% of married women have had an affair at one point during their marriage, and in almost half the cases, their husbands had no idea that the affair was going on. There are many causes for this, but the most common of them is the fact that due to long hours at work, or extensive business travel, men simply stop paying attention to their wives. The husband comes home tired and preoccupied with work related issues, and doesn't take the time to listen to their wives, show them they care and exhibit signs of affection and tenderness. As time passes, the feelings of neglect and frustration, as well as the need to be cared for get channeled into new directions, and sometimes this results in the wife seeking or accepting the attention of another man.

Another factor that might play into the beginning of extramarital relationships for women is feeling that they are being taken for granted by their husbands. The husband's inability to show his appreciation for his wife's efforts can be a crucial factor for the emergence of feelings of discontentment and of a need for appreciation, understanding and respect. In such circumstances, receiving attention from another man can feel flattering, and advances that would be rejected under normal circumstances, would feel like a doorway for the impending need for appreciation to be met.

There are instances when women cheat on their husbands out of the need for excitement and variation, as a way of escaping the routine of the marriage. The need for sexual gratification can also be a decisive factor, if the marriage does not provide her with sexual satisfaction. There are also women who engage in affairs with other men because they want to enjoy the feeling of being in love again and the excitement of the early stages of a relationship.

Of all the reasons why a relationship between two people can fall apart, lack of communication is the first and foremost. Frequent arguments and a failure to understand what the other is feeling is a leading cause for couple alienation. All the causes stated so far have, at least indirectly to do with some sort of miscommunication. Not being able to share the fact that there are feelings of discontentment, loneliness, dissatisfaction and frustration, and of course, to work through the causes of why they have appeared in the first place, trying to solve them eventually leads to the relationship's collapse and to the partners seeking fulfillment for their needs outside the marriage.