Extramarital affairs tend to make people happy, helping to be in love & to have at least biweekly sexual events with the outside partner; and even after the outside partnership ends, there is a higher life satisfaction rating than before the outside partnership

Having Your Cake and Eating It, Too: Factors Impacting Perception of Life Satisfaction During Outside Partnerships. Alicia M. Walker. Sexuality & Culture, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12119-018-9545-z

Abstract: Considering both the prevalence of infidelity and the preoccupation in the U.S. with achieving personal happiness, the question of whether participating in affairs increases perception of life satisfaction is a relevant one. This study utilized a sample population of married individuals specifically seeking extramarital sexual encounters (n = 1070) and investigated those factors which influence the individual’s overall perception of life satisfaction before, during, and after their affairs. Findings indicate that while affairs do tend to make respondents happy, a number of factors influence perception of life satisfaction during an affair, including a belief that an outside partner is required to remain in a primary partnership, a desire to remain in the primary partnership, at least biweekly sexual events with the outside partner, a belief that the individual loves their outside partner, and seeking out the partnership due to sexual dissatisfaction within the primary partnership. There was also a gender effect. A surprising finding was that even after the outside partnership ends, respondents reported a higher life satisfaction rating than before the outside partnership.