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COLUMBIA (WACH) -- Is it ever okay to cheat on a loved on? According to a new university study, the answer is...maybe.

University of Texas at Austin researchers asked hundreds of college students for their opinion, and it turns out the students' answers vary a great deal depending on who your loved one is cheating with.

Researchers found half of men say it is okay for their girl to cheat as long as it is with another girl. Just 22 percent of the men say they would forgive their girlfriend if it were with another guy.

Steve Arneson, Licensed Professional Counselor at Lake Murray Counseling Center, knows about the subject. Recently six of his eight counseling sessions in one day were about adultery. He agrees there may be some scientific basis as to why men may be more inclined to forgive cheating with another woman more than a man.

"A man is not going to be intimidated as much by a female as another man so that is where a man would look more closely at forgiveness of a female than of a male," Arneson explained.

Students at the University of South Carolina have mixed feelings about whether they think the findings also hold true here in the Midlands.

Chelsea Wright is a USC freshman who says she is the victim of cheating. She doesn't think it's acceptable under any circumstances.

"It just really makes you feel like you are inferior to that person they cheated on you with," she said.

USC grad student Sarah Ortigoza said forgiving the broken trust it what is most important.

 "I don't think that is that different between a man or a woman," said Ortigoza.

Kate Reeves, a USC grad student, thinks the research data is not surprising.

 "A lot of men fantasize about seeing two women; it's obviously in our culture just a thing with men," said Reeves.

The same Texas study also asks women about cheating. Researchers found women were unlikely to forgive in either case, but the women were actually less likely to forgive if the cheating was homosexual. Twenty-eight percent of women said they could forgive their man if he cheated with another woman; 21 percent say they could if he cheated with another man.

Arneson thinks women have less variation in their ability to forgive because they tend to view cheating emotionally and therefore will consider the impact on their relationship more than who the cheating was with.

"They (women) are going to be able to forgive based on their heart issues," said Arneson.

Regardless of the willingness to forgive, Arneson said most people underestimate how often people cheat. He says one-in-four men confess to adultery while one-in-five women confess to adultery at least once during their lifetime. Arneson speculates the true number is probably even higher as not everyone who commits adultery comes forward to confess.

So what do you think about all this? Would the gender of the person make any difference to you if your significant other were caught cheating? Please leave a comment to let us know what you think.