You’ve been warned…
They seem interesting and cultured because they’ve hiked across South America, ran with lions and tigers in Africa, and travelled around Vietnam on mopeds.
But according to new research from Columbia University, people who travel to a lot are more likely to cheat on their partner.
In a study titled, The Dark Side of Going Abroad, they discovered that broadening experiences increases people’s immoral behaviour.
In the first test, they asked 215 students to complete an anagram task one month before they left on their travels abroad.
The same students were then asked to complete a similar task six months after they arrived at their travel destination and another a year after they arrived at their destination.
The study found that 30.1% of participants cheated at test one, whereas 46.1% cheated at test two and 47.7% cheated at test three.
The students were then split into three groups. Each group were told to write about an experience at home, a trip to the supermarket or an experience from abroad.
It was discovered that those who wrote about their travelling experiences were more likely to cheat.
These were just two of eight studies that were conducted as part of the research.
According to the study: “Over the past decade, an increasing amount of empirical research has highlighted the benefits of going abroad.
“The effect of broad foreign experiences on immoral behavior was robust across eight studies that used different research methodologies, cultural samples, life stages, and seven widely accepted measures of immorality.”
In case you don’t believe in all that, here’s our guide to eight amazing places you should travel to in South America in 2017.
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