Powerful women 'will have affairs just like men'

Women in positions of power are just as likely as their male counterparts to be unfaithful because confidence is a bigger factor in adultery than gender, a scientific study has found.

Both men and women in powerful positions were more likely to stray than their junior colleagues because they had high self–esteem, according to the research.

Researchers at Tilburg University in Holland, led by Dr Joris Lammers, a psychologist, found that, contrary to popular perceptions, women with powerful jobs were just as likely to stray sexually as men.

"There's been a lot of research indicating gender is the key factor but none of these studies have been done on powerful women," Dr Lammers said.

"As more and more women are in greater positions of power and are considered equal to men, then familiar assumptions about their behaviour may also change. This may lead to increased negative behaviours among women that in the past have been more common among men," he said.

His team studied 1,561 professionals. Of these, 58 per cent had nonmanagement positions, 22 per cent were supervisors, 14 per cent were in middle management and six per cent were in senior management.

All were asked about past affairs and their desire to cheat. Their levels of power and self–confidence were measured, and they were asked how often they travelled for business.

Whether a person was male or female made no difference to their behaviour, Dr Lammers said.

Rather, the biggest factors influencing whether or not they were unfaithful were their levels of power and self–esteem.

"People often assume powerful men may be more likely to cheat.

"We found that among powerful people, gender made no difference in past digressions or their desires to cheat," Dr Lammers said.

男人有钱就变坏，女人也不例外。来自荷兰Tilburg 大学的研究发现：在权利岗位的女强人们跟此岗位的男性一样，出轨比例比较高。

心理学家Joris Lammers 博士说：随着越来越的女性在职场更加得心应手，她们也会感染上一些权利男士那样的恶习。@oioi：所以总归有这样的恶习。

在调查了1561位女性白领之后（其中58%非管理职位，22%主管、14%中级主观、6%高级主观），Joris 发现了这个问题，他说“强大的人，不论男女，都有出轨的欲望。”