Hank Williams, Jr. Knew

The cuckolding of their partner is in women's genetic makeup, according to this recent study from UCLA and the University of New Mexico.

As always, studies with small sample sizes (35 women for the first study, 43 for the second study) should be taken with a grain of salt.

This study extends the research to suggest that their mates attractiveness also effects a woman's desire to cheat during peak fertility.

Normally these kinds of studies get picked up by AP or Reuters then are spread around by all the other news outlets. Either I've missed it or it hasn't happened yet. I will be interested to see if the reporters manage to follow the 'Althouse Postulate' (when reporting on sex difference, always describe the feminine as superior), because the UC NewsWire piece doesn't do a very good job of showing why how women act is better than men (unless you consider their cheating and desire to cheat as foxy (vixen-ish even), whereas men are bullish and easily fooled).

I like the closing of this article:

But in an era when birth control plays a prominent role in determining the amount of genetic material that any one couple passes on to the next generation, these adaptive traits may no longer serve their evolved function.

"The temptation to cheat on one's mate may be no different from hankering for a Krispy Kreme donut and other fatty foods," Haselton said. "It is an appetite that apparently helped ancestral humans to transmit their genes to subsequent generations, but today it may only get us into trouble."

And as I said in my title Hank Williams, Jr. knew

(Your cheatin' heart will tell on you)
Your cheatin' heart will make you weep
You'll cry and cry and try to sleep
But sleep won't come the whole night through
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you
When tears come down like falling rain
You'll toss around and call my name
You'll walk the floor the way
I do your cheatin' heart will tell on you
When tears come down...
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you