Men who feel stressed about their finances and job security during the downturn are more likely to cheat, according to a new US study.
Researchers from the University of Kansas found that men who feel most threatened by the recession go into ‘survival mode’, which causes their sex-drive to soar as their primal instinct kicks in. This is nature’s way of making men ‘spread their seed’ to ensure the survival of the species.
The ‘low survivability’ mode was tested on a group of men who were asked to think about their own death – and then watch porn. It discovered that those who thought about death and prolonged pain, felt more sexual desire than when they didn’t have morbid thoughts on their mind.
“We're biologically wired to reproduce, and the environment tells us the best strategy to use to make sure our genes are passed on,” says professor Omri Gillath, who led the study.
“If you think you might die soon, there's a huge advantage for a man to use short-term mating strategies - to make sure there are a bunch of offspring and hope that some of them survive,” professor Gillath added.
The study believes that the recession sends signals out to the brain that we have lower chances of survival, prompting the turbocharged sex-drive in men.