Although the majority of Americans say it is unacceptable, nearly one in four married adults stillcheat ontheir spouses.

But what constitutes being unfaithful differs among men and women, according to a new survey.

Most people questioned in the poll agree physical contact -- including kissing someone other than your partner -- means you are cheating. But 77 percent of women also think using the Internet for online sexual talk or cavorting in front of a Webcam is also cheating, compared to only 57 percent of men.

"We've always had theinside scoopabout what's on the minds of women, especially when it comes to relationships, said Deborah Fine, president of iVillage Inc, a media firm dedicated to women.

"This new survey gives us a closer look at how both men and women feel about the topic of fidelity," she added in a statement.

Nearly three-quarters of women also feel sending flirtatious emails is cheating, as opposed to 53 percent of men.

According to the online survey of 70,288 people, the most common cheating partners are friends and co-workers. Money is also an element in deceitful behavior because the higher a man's salary the more likely it is that he will be unfaithful.

But the same does not apply to women.

Men said they usually strayed because they wanted more sex, while women sought emotional attention.

The survey also revealed that many partners will try to find out if their spouse isstraying.

Eighty-three percent of people questioned in the poll said they would try to trick them into confessing, 63 percent would pay for a private detective and more than half said they would have no qualms about checking emails and telephone logs.

But when people do have affairs they are usually brief. Nearly 30 percent last a week or less and 47 percent are done within a month.

Those who do cheat rarely get caught, only about 30 percent or less, according to the survey. And just 13 percent confess to their misdeeds.

盡管大多數美國人認為對伴侶不忠不可接受，但卻有近四分之一的已婚人士仍然這樣做。

然而，據一項最新調查顯示，男性和女性對“不忠”的理解有所不同。

大多數受訪者認為與伴侶以外的其他人接吻等身體接觸是一種不忠的表現。但77%的女性認為，在網上互相聊一些下流的話題或通過網絡攝像頭打情罵俏也是不忠的表現，而持此觀點的男性只有57%。

iVillage女性媒體公司的總裁黛博拉·范恩說，“我們總能掌握女性的一些隱秘想法，尤其在兩性關系方面。”

她在一份聲明中說：“這項新調查則針對忠貞這一問題對男性和女性的想法進行了更為深入的了解。”

此外，近四分之三的女性覺得發調情的電子郵件也是不忠，持此看法的男性比例為53%。

據此項對70288人進行的在線調查顯示，朋友和同事最易成為“拈花惹草”的對象。金錢也是不忠行為發生的一個因素，因為男人的收入越高，越軌的可能性會越大。

但這個“理論”并不適合女性。

男人說他們越軌是因為性需求；女人則說她們則是為了尋求情感上的呵護。

此外，調查顯示，很多人表示他們會查明配偶是否有越軌行為。

83%的受訪者表示他們會采取一些小手段，“誘使”對方坦白；63%的人則表示會去找一個私家偵探；一半以上的人說他們會去查對方的電子郵件和電話記錄。

但是真正有越軌行為的人通常會速戰速決。近30%的人持續一周或不到一周的時間，47%的人則在一個月內就完事。

調查顯示，有不忠行為的人很少被抓個現形，只有30%或更少的人遭遇過此尷尬。僅有13%的人向伴侶坦白過自己的錯誤行為。