The Monogamy Gap: Do Married Men Cheat Because they Love their Wives?

A married man cheating on his wife could be evidence that he really loves her, a controversial new book claims.

According to The Monogamy Gap: Men, Love and the Reality of Cheating by Dr Eric Anderson, men have affairs not despite the fact that they love their partners but because they do love them.

The professor of sociology at the University of Winchester argues that infidelity and marriage are entirely compatible.

He drew this conclusion after interviewing 120 men about cheating and their sex lives.

Those who cheated did so because they were sexually bored, rather than because they were not in love, he found.

Anderson explained: "Evidence suggests men who cheat are romantically fulfilled but unsatisfied with having sex with one person.

"It's a subversive interpretation but I'd suggest these men cheat because they do love their partners - they are simply too afraid to take the chance of losing them by expressing a desire for recreational sex with others."

Monogamy is an unrealistic expectation, which women should understand and accept, according to the author.

He also argues that men who cheat - rather than walk out - do so because they love their wives and want to stay with them.

His thesis is supported by surveys, which show that men want sex more than women.

Some relationship experts are unconvinced, however.

Paula Nicholson, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of London, dismissed Anderson's theory.

She told the Daily Mail: "I can't see that it makes any sense at all. When men cheat - and let's not forget that the majority in long-term relationships do not - they usually do so because they've had the opportunity.

"If a man goes on a business trip and has sex with someone he meets in a bar, he's unlikely to be thinking 'I'm doing this because I love my wife.' He's just hoping he doesn't get found out."

What do you think? Can a man who cheats really be doing it for the right reasons?