Being cheated on in a relationship is no fun, but some cheating may be worse depending on gender, according to research from the University of Texas at Austin.

Men were more likely to stay in a relationship with a woman who slept with another woman than if she had slept with a man.

In a study of 700 college students, male participants were 50 percent likely to continue dating a partner who committed a homosexual affair and only 22 percent likely to continue dating if it was a heterosexual affair.

But the study also found women were less likely to continue a relationship if a partner committed a homosexual affair than a heterosexual one.

Among study participants, women were 28 percent likely to stay in a relationship if a partner slept with another woman and only 21 percent likely to continue a relationship if her partner slept with a man.

Jaime Confer, a doctoral candidate in evolutionary psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, led the study.

Pat Tetreault, director of the LGBTQ Resource Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the results of the study seemed realistic.

“I think infidelity is a big issue for any couple,” she said.

One of the reasons why men would be more likely to continue a relationship with a woman who committed a homosexual affair than a heterosexual affair is because men see it as less threatening, Tetreault said.

“There’s a different perception between same-sex relationships and same-sex sexual acts,” she said.

Society tends to see sexual acts between two women as erotic and not “real sex,” Tetreault said.

“I do think it’s based on misperceptions on sexual activity and how people see relationship issues,” she said. “If you look through history, the emphasis has been on gay men.”

Jan Deeds, director of the Women’s Center at UNL, agreed with Tetreault

“The common myth of lesbians in our society is that they haven’t found the right man,” she said.

In a press release from the University of Texas at Austin, Confer said men and women perceived sexual relationships differently because of psychological adaptations.

Deeds disagreed.

“I think that the way sexual behavior and male and female masculinity and femininity is influenced by society and what it teaches us,” she said.

The study highlighted couples’ needs to talk about relationships and what it means to be faithful, Deeds said.

“Both men and women are equally concerned about their partners being faithful.”