Any woman that’s been cheated on has wondered why her husband strayed. Since nearly half of all relationships feature a cheating man there’s a good chance that almost every woman has been cheated on at some point in her life. So why would a man have an affair?

As you might have expected there is no one answer to this question. There are lots of possible answers because every man is a little bit different. The most common answer you’ll hear is that the guy wasn’t getting enough sex so he decided to cheat. That answer is most likely bull crap. For a few guys it’s just a need for lots of sex but that’s exceedingly rare, to be honest. Most guys understand that they’re not going to have sex all the time in a relationship because that’s not how most relationships work. Guys cheat for other reasons.

Near the top of the list is that guys cheat because they don’t feel appreciated and loved. They cheat because their egos crave that love and appreciation and if their wife or girlfriend isn’t giving it to them they’re going to get it somewhere else. That’s why the older man cheating with a younger secretary/girl at the office is so common. She looks up to him in a professional capacity and that feels good. He flirts a little and before you know it he’s getting the ego boost he desires and the appreciation he craves by sleeping with his secretary. Sometimes this type of cheating evolves because the marriage has deteriorated and the wife is no longer demonstrating her love for her husband and sometimes it happens because he is simply blocking out any love she’s sending him.

Men also cheat, or have an affair because they’re hardwired to crave variety. That desire has been in us since the dawn of time as long ago it was a key to propagating the species, which is the set of basic orders that lies at the core of every man and woman. It’s exceedingly simple for a man to do his part in propagating the species since he just has to ejaculate in a woman whereas she has to carry it for nine months. That’s all part of the design and nowadays it can manifest as a major desire to sleep with as many women as possible.

Those are the two big reasons but there are plenty of others, which we’ll name quickly. Men cheat because they want to end the relationship but lack the courage to do so and figure if they get caught the wife/GF will dump them. Men cheat because they’re looking for revenge for some offense, usually a cheating episode (women cheat a whole lot too). Men cheat because the satisfaction of sexual conquering is immense. Men cheat because they can. Men cheat because they know their girlfriend/wife will forgive them. Men cheat for a variety of reasons but at the core of it you’ll almost always find the ego and the desire to boost it up a little and make the man feel like a conqueror.