The attraction of love affairs - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

A top military official engulfed in a sex scandal. The general David Petraeus love affair keeps getting more and more bizarre. 13abc talked with a local therapist about the attraction of having an affair.

The question of when it is an affair varies from person to person. The sex scandal surrounding General David Petraeus keeps getting bigger and bigger! We hit the streets to ask people what's different about this affair?

"There's a moral issue I guess so you have your choice of how you want to feel about it," said Larry Bogusz

"It is what it is," said James Butcher

"I think other in government have done the same thing so why point the finger at him, " said Judy Kleman.

She's right! Bill Clinton, Kwame Kilpartick, John Edwards and the women who cheated with them are equally to blame. 3abc talked to therapist Erin Wiley about ... the attraction of having an affair

"I think more often for women they are more attracted to power and money someone they see will be able to provide security for them. Men have a much different attraction they usually tend to go for physical looks someone who is younger and more attractive then their current partner," said Therapist Erin Wiley.

Wiley says infidelity is not new. She says it's an issue that often brings couples to counseling.
She says what is new is technology that's used to assist in the betrayal like email, texting and social media.

"In America, we somehow think happiness is owed to us and our relationship should be perfect all the time just like in movies and books and so when things are rocky people don't always try to improve the relationship they start to look outside the relationship and social media sites like Facebook make it so easy to find people you've had a previous relationship and those are relationships are really easy to idolize because we often remember the good  from previous relationships and not the bad," said Wiley.  

Wiley urges couples in troubled marriages to give themselves some space when there's an affair and not to make any rash decisions. Something this high profile couple who's been married for 38 years reportedly plans to do.