夫妻之间谁更容易婚外情?

Some 60 years ago, Alfred Kinsey delivered a shock to midcentury sexual sensibilities when he reported that at some point in their marriages, half of the men and a quarter of the women in the U.S. had an extramarital affair. No one puts much stock in Dr. Kinsey's high numbers any more - his sampling methods suffered from a raging case of selection bias - but his results fit the long-standing assumption that men are much more likely to cheat than women.
大约60年前，金赛(Alfred Kinsey)的研究为二十世纪中叶人们对性问题的感知带来震撼，当时他在研究报告中称，在婚姻的某一阶段，美国半数的男性和四分之一的女性都会发生婚外情。如今人们对金赛得出的高出轨率已经不是非常重视了（他的取样方法存在严重的选择偏差），但他的结果符合人们长期以来的假设，即男性欺骗伴侣的可能性要比女性大得多。

Lately, however, researchers have been raising doubts about this view: They believe that the incidence of unfaithfulness among wives may be approaching that of husbands. The lasting costs of these betrayals will be familiar to the many Americans who have experienced divorce as spouses or children.
但研究者近期对这种观点提出了质疑：他们认为，妻子的不忠行为发生几率可能与丈夫接近。这些背叛行为的长期代价为许多与配偶离过婚或经历过父母离婚的美国人所熟知。

Among the most reliable studies on this issue is the General Social Survey, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, which has been asking Americans the same questions since 1972. In the 2010 survey, 19% of men said that they had been unfaithful at some point during their marriages, down from 21% in 1991. Women who reported having an affair increased from 11% in 1991 to 14% in 2010.
有关该问题的最可靠研究之一当属“综合社会调查”(General Social Survey)，这项研究由美国国家科学基金会(National Science Foundation)资助，从1972年开始向美国人询问同一批问题。在2010年的调查中，19%的男性表示，他们在婚姻的某个阶段曾有不忠行为，这一比例低于1991年的21%。而自述存在婚外情的女性比例由1991年的11%升至2010年的14%。

A 2011 study conducted by Indiana University, the Kinsey Institute and the University of Guelph found much less of a divide: 23% for men and 19% for women. Such numbers suggest the disappearance of the infidelity gender gap, but some caution is in order.
印第安纳大学(Indiana University)、金赛研究所(Kinsey Institute)和圭尔夫大学(University of Guelph) 2011年一项研究发现的性别差距要小得多：男性为23%，女性为19%。上述数据暗示，两性之间在不忠行为上的差异趋于消失，但我们应该审慎地看待该数据。

An enduring problem for researchers - even those who sample with meticulous care - is that any such survey is asking for confessions from people who are presumably lying to their spouses. Researchers generally believe that actual infidelity numbers are higher than the results indicate.
研究者──即便是那些取样时小心谨慎的研究者──一直面临的问题是，任何此类调查都要求那些很可能对伴侣撒了谎的人坦白自己的越轨行为。研究者一般认为，不忠行为的实际数字要比调查结果所显示的高。

It should also be emphasized that cheating in the U.S. isn't epidemic or inevitable, for either sex. Surveys consistently find that by far the majority of respondents value monogamy and think that infidelity is harmful. And if you believe the General Social Survey's finding that 14% of women are cheating, keep in mind that 86% aren't.
但也应该强调，在美国，无论对男性还是女性来说，欺骗都既非普遍行为，也非不可避免。多次调查均一致显示，到目前为止，多数受访者都珍视一夫一妻制，并认为不忠行为是有害的。假如你相信“综合社会调查”结果是真实的，即14%的女性有欺骗行为，那么同时也请记住86%的女性并没有欺骗伴侣。

Still, even though survey accuracy is difficult to achieve and experts are by no means unanimous, it would appear that women are, indeed, catching up. In my own work as a psychologist and in my social circle, I see more women not only having affairs but actively seeking them out. Their reasons are familiar: validation of their attractiveness, emotional connection, appreciation, ego - not to mention the thrill of a shiny new relationship, unburdened by the long slog through the realities of coupledom.
不过，虽说调查很难做到精确无误，专家们的意见也不尽一致，但女性不忠行为的比例似乎确实在追赶男性。从我作为心理学家的工作经历和我的社交圈来看，我发现有更多女性不仅有婚外情，而且在积极寻找婚外情。她们的理由听起来很耳熟：证明她们的吸引力、情感联系、欣赏、自我──更不用说对一种全新关系的渴望了（这种关系不受婚姻中的长期重压羁绊）。

Researchers also point to other factors that might be leading women to stray more. One is what might be called 'infidelity overload.' Scan the plots on any given week in television, and there seems to be more extramarital sex than marital sex. (Few spouses stay put in 'Mad Men.') With women portrayed as eager participants and aggressive instigators, there may be a feeling that infidelity has become more acceptable.
研究者还指出了可能导致女性外遇增加的其他因素。其中之一也许可以称为“不忠主题泛滥”。不论哪一周的电视节目，情节中出现较多的似乎都是婚外情，而婚内情则出现得比较少。（电视剧“广告狂人”(Mad Men)中的夫妻几乎没有不出轨的）女性被描述为热心的参与者和积极的发起者，人们可能会感觉社会对不忠行为的接受程度增加了。