Tiger Woods' father was alleged philanderer: Do cheaters beget cheaters? (Survey)

Tiger Woods, right, with his late father, Earl Woods. (AP Photo)

A cavalcade of women have been named or come forward in the past few weeks claiming to have been mistresses of married golfer Tiger Woods. If all of the alleged dalliances are true, he’s a cheater of epic proportions.

Now, several reports indicate that Woods’ father Earl Woods was unfaithful to his first wife, Barbara, with whom he had three children, and cheated on Woods’ mother, Kultida, as well.

Thus, the Daily Mail asks whether Woods’ multiple incidences of infidelity resulted from a genetic predisposition or whether he was merely repeating the behavior he saw his beloved father engage in?

According to the Mail, while Earl was in the military in 1967, he was stationed in Thailand in charge of rest and relaxation for the troops. Brothels in the area were popular attractions for soldiers and were established in Bangkok to service their needs.

The Mail reports that Earl was in charge of ensuring “…the soldiers had a good time. Despite his officer status, he found it difficult to resist temptation.”

While his wife and three kids waited for him back home, Earl fell for his secretary, Kultida, so he divorced Barbara to marry her.

Barbara was devastated and wrote in court documents that Earl was extremely cruel to her and caused her “grievous mental suffering during their marriage.” She also had no doubt there were other women in his life.

During the superstar golfer's high school years, he reportedly became aware of his father’s infidelities. According to ex-girlfriend, Diane Parr, “He would just call crying and say, ‘My dad is with another woman,’ and that would be all he could say… He would be so upset, so I just tried to be there for him and listen to him.”

To support the theory that Woods' behavior may be genetic, a 2007 study conducted at the University of New Mexico determined that there is a “…possibility that women do seek sex outside of the relationship for a particular reason… to obtain genetic benefits,” according to LiveScience. However, the same study found that “Men showed no discrimination when it came to sexual desire toward their partners.” The researchers surmised that this finding illustrates that males “…don’t put as much energy into reproduction. They just copulate when the opportunity arises.”

Nonetheless, author Dr. Frank Pittman theorized in his book ‘Private Lies: Infidelity and the Betrayal of Intimacy,’ that cheating behavior may result from having a parent who is an infidel. “Adult children of adulterers may have identified with the betrayer of the family… As children see it, adulterers are out having fun, getting the excitement…,” writes Pittman. In addition, these children are angry at what is being done to the family, yet act out as adults becoming involved in multiple infidelities.

In the end, whether being unfaithful to one’s spouse or partner is genetic or learned, it is clearly behavior that is devastating, hurtful, and destructive.

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