Chivalrous men cheat as much as misogynists, and most women are unaware: Study

Chivalrous men cheat as much as misogynist males, a new study claims. Many women fall for the trap of a man being dutiful and polite and just assume that because of these traits, he won’t cheat on her, according to the study.

As per the study, what women fall for is called “benevolent” sexism, which refers to a belief that women are vulnerable and need the protection of men that is misconducted as simply being polite. This is far different from “hostile” sexism, which is an open expression of contempt for women and tries to establish that men are superior to women.

Both kinds of sexism are part of the same male chauvinistic principle.

The PsyPost explored whether the sexiest women can sense which men are most likely to cheat - the benevolent or hostile sexiest.

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The first test had 379 heterosexual men from the US who answered questions to assess their level of sexist values as well as their likelihood of cheating.

To everyone's surprise, surveys confirmed both hostile and benevolent sexist attitudes as significant indicators of infidelity.

A second trial involved another 544 straight men to confirm the preceding results, as well as assess the importance sexist men placed on power in their relationships. Again, both forms of sexism were high indicators of infidelity.

A final test measured whether women were as wary of benevolent sexist attitudes as hostile ones. Following a series of hypothetical statements about three types of men — exhibiting hostile sexism, benevolent sexism and no sexism — a group of 244 heterosexual women rated each based on how likely they believed the particular man was to cheat.

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Women were found to be dubious of the sort of sexist men who, for example, accuse them of “[using] men for their own ends and, when in a relationship, attempt to restrain a man’s independence and exert undue control over his behaviour.” And, indeed, men with this level of resentment against women are more likely to cheat on their female partners.

However, in contrast, women were found to fall to the charms of benevolent types who espoused such views as “a man must “provide financial support and economic security for a woman.” Even when they found the statements patronizing or anti-feminist, they failed to adequately asses these men as adulterers.

In their report, PsyPost concluded that women may be underestimating men who display benevolent sexist attitudes by misunderstanding such charms as protective or even committed.

(With inputs from agencies)