Affairs - How Long Do they Last?

Let's talk numbers for a while. Infidelity statistics indicate an interesting aspect of the cheating scenario. As to percentage, 50% of extra-marital affairs are said to last from more than a month to less than a year. Coming in a close second are affairs which last for 2 years or more at 40%. The remaining 10% represents the short-lived ones which last from a day to less than a month.

We can surmise by looking at these figures why infidelity poses such an obstacle to a successful marriage. Imagine the considerable amount of time spent by a cheating spouse in providing attention to another which could have been given to the legal spouse. If a single act of infidelity can destroy a marriage to its very core, how do you think can an affair that has been carried on for years affect it?

Cheating whether done once or many times remain cheating per se. But there is something about how a cheating spouse goes to great lengths in violating trust in marriage for a long-standing extra-marital affair. The first instance of cheating is rarely borne of rational decisions and usually brought upon by momentary uncontrolled emotions. A long-standing affair obviously cannot claim refuge for the same reasoning given the sufficient amount of time to think about terminating the relationship.

As a consolation perhaps to the cheated spouses, statistics would again show that cheating spouses rarely marry the person they are having an affair with. If they do, at least 70% end up in divorce as well. Psychologists see these statistics as a representation of the disillusionment that occurs after reality sets in when a once exciting affair is converted into actual marriage. General distrust and guilt are serious concerns to overcome.