Is infidelity forgivable ? Why Elin won't be leaving Tiger

Modern relationships have evolved far beyond what was once considered traditional. Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, get married and live happily ever after. Maybe it has never really been this way, but since good old Henry set the trend for divorce, it seems marriage and relationships in general, are never forever.



As a biologist, it makes perfect sense to me that man and woman should desire more than just one partner with which to procreate. There is a much better chance of ensuring the longevity of your genetic footprint if you mix it up a little. Yet we (mostly) chose to settle with just one partner and it’s socially unacceptable to have more than one partner, or to cheat. But we all know it happens... a lot ! Guys cheat on their girlfriends; husbands and wives have extramarital affairs; women frequently and knowingly enter into relationships with married men.

When discovered, infidelity causes great emotional fallout, but why are we always so surprised when we know it happens so often. If you weren’t getting everything you hoped for from a relationship, would you be able to resist the temptation of a more desirable prospect. Would it mean you loved your partner any less if you sought temporary physical relief ? No probably not. But does that justify the act. Would you expect to be forgiven ?


Most women, and probably men, can usually sense when their partner is up to no good. And when the matter is considered rationally, many would say they would forgive their partner. Yet there is still apparently an urge to, I don’t know, attack your husband with a golf club, when you find out. So it’s not ok, it’s not acceptable to cheat on your partner. But compared with the prospect of losing the partner you love and going it alone, it’s easy to see why many people forgive.


In Elin’s (wife of Tiger Woods) case, the multimillion dollar mansions, extensive staff and leisurely lifestyle will probably ease the pain, but even without all that, she’d probably still forgive him. For better, for worse right ?