Women are far more likely to gossip about having an affair than men - who only tell strangers, a study reveals today.

今日发布的一项研究显示，女性把婚外情说出去的可能性比男性大得多，而男性只会将这种事告诉陌生人。

Far from wanting to keep it secret, more than four in ten women who have cheated on their partner admitted they chatted about it with at least one friend.

In stark¹（完全的，荒凉的） contrast, three quarters of men who cheat on their partner are far too scared of being found out to tell anyone at all.

But despite playing their cards so close to their chests when it comes to infidelity（无信仰，背信） , it seems men are twice as likely to tell a stranger as confide² in（信任，信赖） their best friend.

Just six per cent tell a friend of their affair, while 12 per cent admitted they would tell someone they had just met that they were playing around.

In contrast, the research found that 43 per cent of women who stray（流浪，迷路） gossip about it to their closest friend and 15 per cent tell more than one.

A relationship expert said this is because men are far less trusting of their friends than women and are programmed not to reveal anything which could make them vulnerable.

Phillip Hodson, from the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy（心理疗法） , said: 'In short, men don't tend to reveal things about themselves while women like storytelling and tend to have more confidence and trust in their friends.

'Men don't tend to bond in the same way and are loathe³（讨厌，厌恶） to share stuff which could make them vulnerable.

'They bond in terms of common experiences on stag（全是男人的） weekends or in the pub but it's not the same as saying 'I'm sleeping with my wife's sister'.

'They fear that sort of information could be used against them. Men are used to being competitive and so they fear someone could blackmail⁴ them or betray them.

'Male relationships all contain a certain amount of banter⁵（戏谑） and they may also fear that after a few beers it will all come out.

'In comparison women like to tell and share. They love the drama of soap operas and the like and they also trust their best friends not to tell.