"Betrayal" is the worst word in the English language. The worst manner in which we experience this ultimate degradation is from the one person who has sworn before God and family never to do it — one's spouse.

And man oh man, does it happen a lot.

More than 36 percent of men and 19 percent of women report having cheated on their spouses. Given that most cheaters are unwilling to admit to it, we can assume that the real number is significantly higher — perhaps twice that in each case.

This would mean that a majority of marriages have had one or both spouses cheat on the other at some point in their relationship.

I found this number to be staggering. And it got me wondering — what are the signs? What type of person is most likely to cheat? What are the most likely scenarios people cheat in? What circumstances increase the likelihood? What are the red flags you should look for?

The results surprised me.

First, cheating seems to be a crime of opportunity. Of those who admitted to having an affair, half of them did so with a co-worker. It may be that time spent together allows for emotional connections to form, or the simple proximity option of who is readily available. It could also be that the "acceptable" aspects of spending late nights or work nights out of town together makes it a lot easier to lie to your partner, making cheating with a co-worker the most common and easiest of the cheating options.

So apparently, the majority of cheaters don’t follow the old admonition not to foul the place where you eat.

The second most likely candidate for affair partner is a close friend of both spouses — the choice of 33 percent of the cheating men and 25........

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