People with divorced siblings are 22% more likely to divorce. The study even revealed the contagion of divorce among co-workers could be as much as 55% in small companies.

The technical term they coined to describe this phenomenon is called, "divorce clustering." 
Taken at face value, these statistics certainly vie on the worst fears of many in this culture who suspected that divorce may be much like the flu with germs that are easily transmitted. 

Likewise, given how prevalent cheating trends and "affair clusters" have been in the past few years, it begs the question of whether infidelity may also be "catchable."

Despite the researchers wanting people to feel powerless over these scary statistics, it may help to know that, though we humans are no doubt flawed and sometimes weak-willed, we do have the power to avoid succumbing to the "dis-eases" of affairs and divorces.

While I don't believe that affairs are any more contagious than divorces, I think what is epidemic in our society is that we have gotten caught up in an "each person for him or herself" mindset and we allow people to misbehave and sometimes even reward them by giving them press, airtime and attention (i.e. giving Jesse James a book deal!).

To get a better understanding of how to have a clean bill of marital health, it might help to examine the "symptoms" of a cheater.

The 10 Most Prevalent Symptoms of a Cheater

The most common traits among those who have affairs include (in no particular order) -
1. An inability or unwillingness to be honest with self and others;

2. An inability to deal with problems in relationships (especially intimate relationships);

3. An inability to communicate their needs or feelings;

4. An unwillingness to feel their "negative" feelings and thought their actions would make them feel better;

5. Lack of coping skills;

6. An inability to commit to another person;

7. Immaturity and immediate gratification orientation;

8. Narcissism and/or self-absorption;

9. Self-seeking tendencies;                                                  

 10. Higher than average insecurities and need for external validation;

Additionally, I have seen repeatedly that spouses who are cheated on have often previously accepted unacceptable behavior (such as verbal or emotional abuse).

But we are not simply at the mercy of some germ in the air and the good news is, there are things we can do to prevent ourselves from having a Marital "Break-out."

Anyone wanting to avoid "coming down with a bad case of infidelity" can strive for these qualities - in no particular order:

10 Tips for Becoming Immune to Extramarital Affairs

1. Honesty with self about shortcomings;

2. Humility (with or without power or prestige - but especially with!);

3. Self-restraint;

4. Respect for and consideration of others;

5. Emotional maturity;

6. Delayed gratification orientation;

7. A willingness & ability to be uncomfortable (my definition of emotional maturity is increasing one's tolerance to discomfort);

8. Healthy coping skills;

9. Good communication skills;

10. Self-awareness and self-acceptance

Sadly, more and more, fidelity seems to be the road less travelled - certainly among the rich and famous, anyhow.