圣诞节：男人送情人礼物比送妻子慷慨

　　As you settle down to watch Love Actually with your family this Christmas - and laugh at the seemingly ridiculous plot devices - one scene will ring especially true to a lot of philandering men.

　　Emma Thompson's character discovers that the expensive-looking necklace she spied her husband, Alan Rickman, buying was not actually for her, she's been given a CD.

　　A new survey has revealed that that is far from unusual. Men who have affairs spend an average of 12 percent more on Christmas presents for their mistresses than their wives.

　　The statistics, taken from a survey of 2,000 men who use the Illicit Encounters website, discovered that an average of £124 is splurged on mistress’ presents, while £109 is put aside for their spouse’s gifts.

　　The infidelity prone men were asked to describe the main Christmas gift being purchased for their mistress and their Mrs.

　　Eighty-nine percent of these men admitted to choosing something ‘ultimately decorative with that being it’s sole purpose’ for their mistress in comparison to 42 percent of these men choosing an item like this for their wife.

　　Half of men have chosen something ‘practical and useful for around the home’ for their other halves in comparison to only three percent of men that chosen that kind of present for their lover.

　　Cheating expert and spokesperson for Illicit Encounters, Rosie Freeman-Jones says: 'The difference in the sort of gifts men choose to buy for their mistress and wives mirror the different ways married men often view these two relationships.

　　'Men often see their mistresses as playing more "surface", decorative roles in their lives, providing sex and affection without much emotional attachment.

　　'This explains why mistresses receive less practical and more "pretty" gifts.

　　'On the other side of the coin, a man's relationship with his wife, after time, becomes less about being pretty and more about being practical - the bigger issues of mortgages and maintenance overtake the seemingly less important things like romance.

　　'The less a husband thinks of his wife as a sexual being, the more functional and "unsexy" his gifts will become.'