20 Percent of You Are in Love with Someone Else

  

There's a 20 percent chance that your significant other is in love with someone else, according to a poll out of the U.K.

The poll, conducted by OnePoll.com surveyed 3,000 people in serious relationships. One in five respondents reported having intense romantic feelings for a person other than their long-term partner. These feelings endured for around three years, though one in 25 people admitted that they had loved another for more than five years, and one in 50 could not remember a time when they had not been in love with someone else.

The most common objects of affection make up the quartet that jealous spouses fear most: Friends, coworkers, ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends. One in six people with a clandestine love interest reported plans to eventually initiate an affair.

The poll was taken in the U.K., meaning that around five million British citizens who are married or living together may be in love with someone outside the relationship. The findings correspond roughly to an online survey of 70,000 adults conducted by MSNBC.com and iVillage, which found that 22 percent of adults in monogamous relationships have cheated on their partner.

The OnePoll.com survey also revealed that a quarter of adults aren't entirely happy in their relationships. But even those who reported being completely happy in their relationships had feelings for other people -- 50 percent of content partners had been deeply attracted to a person outside of their committed relationship.

"Even in a happy relationship, it seems to be possible to have a wandering eye or even crave affection from another person," said a spokesman for OnePoll.com.

The stereotype of the cheating man was supported by the poll, with 22 percent of men admitting they loved two women, compared to 15 percent of women who loved two men. While 19 percent of women planned to ditch their significant other for a new love, 29 percent of men planned to stray.

"Men have a bad reputation when it comes to eyeing up other women yet the research proves this is actually true," said the OnePoll.com spokesman. "Men are much more likely to 'window shop' whilst in a loving relationship as well as falling for another women."

On the plus side, a person usually lusts after another just once during the span of a relationship.

"For those who can't control their lust, this usually leads to an affair and potentially the start of a marriage or relationship breakdown," said the spokesman, implying that those who could harness their feelings had a good chance of salvaging their relationships. The other upside? Eighty percent of respondents reported remaining devoted to their significant other.-- AOLhealth.com