Once a cheat, always a cheat - new study confirms what your mother's always told you

Those who cheat in one relationship are three-and-a-half times more likely to do the dirty in their following relationship.

(Dave Emmett/Flickr)

The findings were divulged at the annual American Psychological Association’s convention after studying the past and present relationships of 484 unmarried 18-34-year-olds.

That’s not all as that those who had been a victim of infidelity are more likely to be cheated on again.

The pattern continued when it came to aggression in a relationship – respondents who admitted to both physical and psychological aggression in a relationship were three times more likely to engage in the destructive behaviour in their next one.

And sadly, it doesn’t seem we learn from our mistakes – victims of aggression in previous relationships were five times more likely to encounter the same hostility with their next partner.

(Guian Bolisay/Flickr)

“We like to think that we can learn from our experiences and our mistakes, especially when it comes to love,” study leader Kayla Knopp said.

“But as this study shows, that is likely not the case.

“More research is need to help develop clinical interventions to help people learn from their past experiences and making better relationship choices.”