We’ll never know if Lemonade was all about Jay-Z’s infidelity.
But if Shawn Carter ever did leave Queen Bey for “Becky with the good hair,” according to a recent study she would win in the long run – and not just because it’s B.
A huge international study conducted by scientists from Binghamton University found that even though adultery and betrayal is devastating and emotionally painful in the short-term, female victims may find themselves better off in the future.
5,705 male and female participants took part in an online survey across 96 different countries, which asked them questions about their past relationships.
Of all the respondents, 85 per cent admitted to having had at least one severe breakup.
And while getting your heartbroken by a cheater is no walk in the park, the scientists behind the study did find that there was a pleasant upshot – for women at least.
According to the study’s lead author, Craig Morris, being cheated on can actually benefit woman as they tend to move on and find the perfect partner in the future.
“Our thesis is that the woman who ‘loses’ her mate to another woman will go through a period of post-relationship grief and betrayal, but come out of the experience with higher mating intelligence that allows her to better detect cues in future mates that may indicate low mate value,” said Morris.
The Oxford Handbook of Women and Competition in which the study was published agreed that “emotions arising from the loss of a mate to a sexual rival may potentially motivate actions that could make one avoid this scenario in the future.”
It continued:
“This essay argues that there are consequences of female intrasexual mate competition that may be both evolutionarily adaptive and also beneficial in terms of personal growth and that may expand beyond mating and into other realms of personal development.”
And though there’s a long road ahead of spurned women out there – one paved with cars destroyed by wandering baseball bats – it’s nice to know that when you bump into your ex, you’re the winner in the long run… even if you don’t feel so fabulous.
[ad_bb1]