Men who earn less than their female partners are more likely to cheat on them, a study published on Monday found.

　　Cheating may be a man's way of trying to restore his gender identity when he feels it is under threat, Christin Munsch, a sociology doctoral candidate at Cornell University, says in the study, which she authored and presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.

　　“Making less money than a female partner may threaten men's gender identity by calling into question the traditional notion of men as breadwinners,” Munsch said.

　　Indeed, the study found that infidelity dramatically increased when the man earning less than his female partner is Latino, probably because breadwinner status is “one of the defining features of Hispanic masculinity.”

　　Then again, the same study found that men whose partners were more dependent on them were also more likely to cheat, making it a lose-lose situation for women。

　　It's different for girls, though. Overall, women are half as likely to cheat as men anyway, whatever the circumstances, the study found。

　　“Women's femininity is not defined by their breadwinner status, nor is it defined by sexual conquest. Therefore, economic dependency does not serve as a threat to women,” Munsch says.

　　The study indicates ways to prevent one's partner cheating without giving up the well-paid day job. Both sides being satisfied in a relationship is a sure-fire way to make infidelity disappear, and getting your partner to go to church or the mosque or temple regularly is another: the more regularly an individual attends a religious service, the less likely he or she is to cheat, the study says。

　　Looking for a partner in a university library, lab or lecture might also be an idea because, the study says, “the more education one reports, the less likely he or she is to engage in infidelity.”

　　本周一公布的一项研究发现，收入低于女伴的男性在感情上出轨的可能性更大。

　　康奈尔大学社会学博士生克里斯汀•穆切在她撰写的研究报告中称，男人在感觉自己的“男权”地位受到威胁后，出轨可能是他挽回尊严的一种方式。克里斯汀博士在美国社会学协会的年会上提交了该研究报告。

　　穆切说：“经济上处于弱势地位会威胁到男人的性别认同感，因为这有悖于男性是家中经济支柱的传统观念。”

　　研究发现，这一现象在拉美人中最为突出，这可能是因为担当家中经济支柱是“拉美男性男子气质的决定性因素之一。”

　　这一研究还发现，即便男性在经济上处于主导地位，他们对伴侣不忠的可能性还是更大，这让女性面临两难境地。

　　然而女性的情况则有所不同。研究发现，总体来看，无论比伴侣挣得多还是少，女性出轨的可能性为男性的一半。

　　穆切说：“女性气质不是由经济地位决定的，和性征服也无关。所以，经济上对伴侣的依赖不会对女性造成威胁。”

　　该研究还提供了既可防止伴侣出轨又不用放弃高薪工作的几个办法。夫妻双方感情稳定是杜绝出轨的重要保障，另外经常和伴侣一起去教堂、清真寺院或寺庙也是一个好办法。研究称，一个人参加宗教仪式的次数越多，出轨的可能性越小。

　　没有伴侣的人不妨去大学图书馆、试验室或讲座上试试，因为研究发现，“一个人受教育程度越高，出轨的可能性越小。”