Infidelity is a common occurrence in contemporary society. Only a short time spent at the workplace water cooler or reading the daily newspaper will disclose stories of unfaithfulness. From the middle class, blue-collar worker to elite, influential leaders in government, no one is immune from the influence of infidelity. No relationship is secure. Infidelity occurs in marriages and in committed relationships among both heterosexuals and homosexuals. Studies have shown that approximately 70% of women and 80% of men believe that there are situations which justify an affair outside of marriage (Glass & Wright, 1992). Infidelity is a common problem for therapists and the offices of marriage and family counselors are full (Blow & Hartnett, 2005).
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Participants were presented with four different scenarios depicting heterosexuals in contemporary situations where one of the partners is engaged in an activity that could be considered infidelity. Participants are then asked to rate how much they agree or disagree that the partner was being unfaithful. The scenarios depict combinations of the four types of infidelity discussed previously: online emotional, offline emotional, online sexual, and offline sexual. In an attempt to obtain clear gender differences, it was specified in each scenario that the behavior depicted was the only behavior the partner was engaged in. It is hypothesized that men will find sexual infidelity as more unfaithful than emotional infidelity and that women will find emotional infidelity more unfaithful than sexual infidelity. It is then hypothesized that both men and women will find offline infidelity as more unfaithful than online …show more content…
Some studies have shown that the gender of the unfaithful partner is not significant (Landis-Kleine, Foley, Nall, Padgett, & Walters-Palmer, 1995) while others have shown men believe that women are more unfaithful (Yeniçeri & Kökdemir, 2006). The gender of the unfaithful partner will be varied and it is predicted that there will be no difference in the infidelity ratings as found by previous research. Second, marriage has been considered to be protection against infidelity (Blow & Hartnett, 2005). It is hypothesized that a married partner who commits a potential act of infidelity will be considered more unfaithful. Finally, previous studies have shown that divorce is more strongly recommended when children are present in a relationship (Landis-Kleine et al., 1995). It is hypothesized that a partner or spouse who commits a potential act of infidelity in a relationship with children will be considered more
Participants were presented with four different scenarios depicting heterosexuals in contemporary situations where one of the partners is engaged in an activity that could be considered infidelity. Participants are then asked to rate how much they agree or disagree that the partner was being unfaithful. The scenarios depict combinations of the four types of infidelity discussed previously: online emotional, offline emotional, online sexual, and offline sexual. In an attempt to obtain clear gender differences, it was specified in each scenario that the behavior depicted was the only behavior the partner was engaged in. It is hypothesized that men will find sexual infidelity as more unfaithful than emotional infidelity and that women will find emotional infidelity more unfaithful than sexual infidelity. It is then hypothesized that both men and women will find offline infidelity as more unfaithful than online …show more content…
Some studies have shown that the gender of the unfaithful partner is not significant (Landis-Kleine, Foley, Nall, Padgett, & Walters-Palmer, 1995) while others have shown men believe that women are more unfaithful (Yeniçeri & Kökdemir, 2006). The gender of the unfaithful partner will be varied and it is predicted that there will be no difference in the infidelity ratings as found by previous research. Second, marriage has been considered to be protection against infidelity (Blow & Hartnett, 2005). It is hypothesized that a married partner who commits a potential act of infidelity will be considered more unfaithful. Finally, previous studies have shown that divorce is more strongly recommended when children are present in a relationship (Landis-Kleine et al., 1995). It is hypothesized that a partner or spouse who commits a potential act of infidelity in a relationship with children will be considered more