This Is What Makes People Three Times More Likely to Cheat

If you've been cheated on before, you know that every subsequent relationship is the same old song and dance: Given your bad luck and history, no matter how trustworthy your new partner is, you're uber suspicious that you'll get cheated on again.

So if your paranoia drives you crazy when it comes to your romantic relationships, it turns out you're not alone.

In a recent study, researchers surveyed 329 women and 155 men who have been in at least two relationships in five years. The study set out to answer two main questions: Does engaging in cheating once increase someone's likelihood to do it again? And does dating someone who cheated lead to dating another person who will cheat on you again?

Not only did researchers find that people who have been cheated on are more likely to figure out subsequent partners were cheating, they also found that people who have cheated in a relationship are much more likely to cheat in another relationship.

Published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, researchers found that the phrase "once a cheater, always a cheater" is actually true — cheaters are three times more likely to cheat in their next relationship if they've already cheated before.

What's more is that the study's findings pointed toward people who had been cheated on before were four times more likely to suspect subsequent partners of cheating — regardless of gender.

So next time you're trying to brush off your paranoia, remember that you're not alone in your gut instinct.