Not all porn addicts cheat. But compulsively watching porn all the time doesn’t guarantee that the addict won’t find time to be unfaithful.

This is a complex question with no simple answer and no definitive statistics. First of all it depends how you define cheating. Many people would feel that any sexual activity outside a marriage, e.g. sexting, hiring a prostitute or even porn use itself, constitutes cheating, not just extramarital affairs.

If we assume the narrower definition of cheating as an affair outside a relationship, then what are the factors that might increase the likelihood of a particular porn addict having an affair?

Infidelity statistics for the U.S.

In the population as a whole, the published infidelity statistics indicate that more than 50% of men and women admit to committing infidelity in a relationship. In marriages, 22% of men admit to infidelity at least once.

This means that there is a significant chance of anyone cheating on a partner whether they are an addict or not. So the question is whether there is anything about some porn addicts that makes them more or less likely to cheat than other people.

There are a number of different types of people who get hooked on porn. For some it is the primary or only sexually addictive behavior. But a large proportion of the people I see in treatment have porn addiction as one of a number of sexually addictive behaviors.

Since the available sex addiction data indicate that most sex addicts have more than one sexual behavior. These behaviors can be of divergent and unpredictable types; for example an exhibitionist may also have phone sex and frequent prostitutes, a person addicted to sexual massage may also seek out online hook ups or cybersex, and a voyeur may also engage in unwanted covert sexual touching.

So there is a significant likelihood (and this is borne out in clinical experience) that a porn addict will have at least one other sexual behavior that is carried out in secret. And those other behaviors could be almost anything, depending on the person.

Which porn addicts will cheat?

In my view there are certain characteristics of porn addicts which may increase the chance of extramarital affairs.

  • A committed relationship

The fact that a porn addict is in a relationship in the first place adds a level of stress that means that he is at greater risk. He is not the loner, the totally isolated addict who uses porn instead of ever connecting with real people.

Porn addicts in relationships are avoidant of intimacy with their partner and have already been leading a compartmentalized life built on deception. The desire for connection coupled with the desire to escape the demands of intimacy with a partner can be a big factor in sex addicts and porn addicts seeking sexual connection outside of their relationship.

  • The passage of time

The longer the person has been a sex or porn addict the more likely it is that the addiction will progress. As with any addiction, sex addiction therapists have noticed that the behavior pattern of sex addicts tends to escalate and addicts report seeking greater excitement and taking more risks in order to keep getting the same “fix”. With porn addicts this may take the form of increasingly hard core, violent or edgy porn, but it may also take the form of branching out to other behaviors.

  • Greater “relational regression” signals escalation

Porn addicts who become increasingly more avoidant of intimacy and sex with partner may begin to live their relationship life in fantasy more than reality. As with the person who travels all the time, like the people depicted in the movie “Up in the Air”, fantasy and fleeting relationships tend to take the place of real relationships to a greater and greater extent.

  • Sociopathy

Because sex and porn addicts are living a lie, they tend to behave in ways that seem almost sociopathic. That is they increasingly ignore the consequences of their actions, disregard the affects on others and feel they can get away with being accountable to no one.

Although this is more true for some addicts than others, there is often the attitude of total narcissistic entitlement. The porn addict who is exhibiting more of these traits may feel that he has a right to have sexual relationships with more than one woman, that it is his due.

There are some in the sex addiction field who would argue that porn addiction is built on internet addiction and porn addicts do not share all of the characteristics of other sex addicts. I believe that the majority of people who get hooked on internet porn share the psychology and behavior patterns of other sex addicts. Even for those porn addicts who strictly act out online, this too can escalate into sex chat, cybersex, online affairs and ultimately going to dating and hookup web sites.

Find Dr. Hatch on Facebook at Sex Addictions Counseling or Twitter @SAResource and at www.sexaddictionscounseling.com