Men Twice as Likely to ‘Mobile Snoop’ Than Women
by Sophie Curtis, The Telegraph
Men are twice as likely as women to check their partner’s mobile phones without their permission for ‘incriminating messages or activity’ – with three fifths of men in relationships in the UK claiming to have done so, compared to a third of women.
When asked to reveal if they had ever looked through a current or ex-partner’s mobile phone without their knowledge, 62 per cent of the men and just 34 per cent of the women surveyed admitted that they had done so, in a new study looking into ‘mobile snooping’ and trust within relationships.
When asked for the motivations behind wanting to check up on their partner, the majority, (89 per cent), of these respondents admitted that they had done so to see if their partner had been talking to anyone else in a romantic or sexual context, indicating signs of infidelity.
Furthermore, 52 per cent of those asked admitted that they knew the passcode or password needed to access their partner’s phone in order to do this.
When asked if they had ever found any incriminating evidence suggesting a partner had been unfaithful, 48 per cent of the respondents who admitted to ‘phone snooping’ confessed that they had done so, with text messages (53 per cent) and direct Facebook messages (42 per cent) exposed as the two most common means through which infidelity was discovered.
Additionally, 59 per cent of women stated that they would confront a partner if they found evidence of cheating and confess that they had been looking through a partner’s mobile phone, while just 37 per cent of men would do the same.
“No one can deny that it’s hard to resist looking at a partner’s phone if the opportunity arises to have a sneaky peek,” said Adam Cable, Director of www.mobilephonechecker.co.uk, which conducted the study of 2,081 UK adults currently in a relationship.
“Our findings reveal a pretty surprising trend of snooping in the UK though, particularly amongst men – which may be a sign that mobiles are either making it more difficult for couples to build trust in a relationship, or simply making it easier for people to spy on their partner’s actions.
“Whatever the motivation may be for this behaviour, I now can’t help but wonder just how many take their phones to the toilet with them to avoid being snooped on. Let’s just hope they wash their hands after!”
The study was also interested to discover how respondents would feel in a situation where the tables were turned, and they discovered their partner ‘snooping’ on their mobile phone. A third, 31 per cent, of people claimed that they would consider ending the relationship if they discovered a partner had been looking through their mobile phone.
Furthermore, 36 per cent of those polled stated that they would never put themselves in a position where a partner could go through their mobile phone without their knowledge.
