Female breadwinners who think you have it all with a great career and a loving partner, beware. Research shows you’re more likely to get cheated on.

Only last month we told you how research indicated successful women may struggle to continue their careers if they want to have a family as well.

And now a new study shows even when women manage to make it in the work-place, if they earn bigger bucks than their other halves it’s more likely their husbands will stray. Researchers in the US say men who are financially dependent on their wives are more likely to be unfaithful and the greater the earning gap, the more likely the man is to cheat.

They say it’s unclear whether it’s to do with male pride being dented and men trying to assert their masculinity or the temptation of yummy mummies on the school run.

When Sandra Bullock’s ex-husband Jesse James famously strayed the world speculated why he would betray his Oscar-winning wife, but could it be to do with the fact he couldn’t handle her power and earning potential?

Doctor Roghy MacCarthy, a clinical psychologist at Dubai’s Counselling and Development Clinic says 

earnings have nothing to do with it.

“People will say that because they’re earning less they want to find their male ego, I don’t believe it,” she says. 

“A man who chooses a woman who is strong, with a good salary and independent is vulnerable when he enters the relationship and a man who is vulnerable normally cannot perform well in the workplace or take care of themselves let alone of their family so they are quite immature. They are like a young child looking for a mum. Their relationship with their partner is not really based on mutuality and growth together, it’s based on her being strong and taking care of him, so most of the time these men behave like they’re single.”

Since the recession British expat Alan Farmer who works in the construction industry has been on a lower wage than his wife but says it’s laughable to think it’s a reason for straying. He says: “You are partners at the end of the day and if she’s got a better job let her go off and earn some money. If you feel bad about it go and improve your education and get a better job and solve it that way. You don’t have to be a pathetic guy who cheats to make feel more of a man.”

Doctor McCarthy says rather than the man feeling he’s cheating on his wife it’s almost like they see their other halves solely as mother figures to look after them which makes being with someone on a romantic level easier.

Josh Dyer who works part time from home while looking after the children says he feels his wife doesn’t see him as a ‘partner’ anymore.

“When your wife goes out to work and earns more than you you can feel that she’s lost respect for you. I don’t know if this actually happens or you just feel it and it creates problems in the marriage. I sometimes feel like my wife treats me as child minder or cleaner rather than her partner. It’s a modern world where women can be the breadwinners but deep down inside most men want to be the hunter figure and I can understand why men might look to someone else to feel appreciated.”