Sun Mar 28, 2010 6:58 pm
One in every five British spouses secretly check their partner's emails or text messages, a new survey has reportedly revealed.
Results showed that 8% of men and 14% of women read their spouse's emails, and in a fifth of relationships, one partner had checked their other half's browser history.
The survey was carried out by researchers from the London School of Economics, the University of Oxford and Nottingham Trent University.
Study leader Ellen Helsper told The Sunday Telegraph that "surprisingly high" levels of surveillance take place in the UK.
"One of the surprising findings was that surveillance was undertaken more often by wives than husbands. This contrasts with research that suggests that women are less technologically skilled than men. It seems that they are able to overcome these barriers when they feel their relationship is at stake," she said.
The findings, published in the journal Computers In Human Behaviour, also showed that 7% of men and 13% of women checked their spouse's text messages. 1% of both men and women had used computer monitoring software, and 1% had posed as someone else to contact their partner.