For some, making less money than their spouse leads to awkwardness and ill feelings. It makes sense. Not being able to stand on your own two feet financially can be a hard blow to take, but it shouldn't be a cause for cheating. Someone should be lucky that they have a partner who loves them enough to support them, and they should feel proud that their partner is so successful.

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But according to a 2016 study by the University of Connecticut, people who depend on their partners financially are more likely to commit adultery.

Researchers surveyed 2,527 people over 10 years to gauge their relationship dynamics.

The study revealed that male and female participants who reported making less than their partners felt driven to cheat. 

Lead researcher Christin L. Munsch comments that "for both men and women, economic dependency is associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in infidelity; but the influence of dependency on men’s infidelity is greater than the influence of dependency on women’s infidelity."

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Why is it that men who have female partners who are the breadwinners are more likely to cheat?

“I think it has to do with our cultural notions of what it means to be a man and what … the social expectations are for masculinity,” continues Munsch.

A man having to depend on his partner economically may be a threat to their masculinity, Munsch said, so having an affair allows them to re-establish their masculinity, even if it’s all done subconsciously.

“There’s plenty of great literature showing how when men in particular undergo gender identity threats, they engage in hypermasculine behaviors,” she said. “Intimacy is one of the most sort of gender-typed behaviors. You think of men as … (having) intimacy in the brain. They can engage in behavior associated with masculinity.”

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What's interesting is that while women who make more than their spouses are more likely to be faithful, men cheat if they're the main breadwinners.

However, the study doesn't specify whether the participants had any other circumstances or relationship issues that led them to cheat.

Whatever the case, we find this absurd. Money has nothing to do with love and marriage, and if a man is so insecure that he can't handle a woman who makes more than him, then he will never be in a healthy relationship.

What happened to "in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer?

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Cassandra Rose Guerrier is a freelance writer, teacher, and editor with a focus on entertainment and trending topics. Her bylines have appeared in the Huffington Post, AskMen, and Thought Catalog, among others.