Abstract
There is certainly no shortage of studies describing the unwanted effects of infidelity in the relevant literature. By contrast, this paper examines the previously unexplored face of infidelity – namely, the subjectively perceived positive effects. One hundred and four participants from Slovakia in emerging and/or young adulthood shared their relationship history through semi-structured interviews (transcribed verbatim). Sixty-nine of these were self-moderated in written form. The same topics were covered in the two types of interview. Using a categorical-content analysis method, four categories were created. These described the constructive functions of infidelity, including enhancing relationship quality; aiding a desired breakup; satisfying unmet needs; and facilitating the decision-making process during the transition period before settling into a long-term relationship. For future research we recommend differentiating between beneficial episodes of infidelity, focusing on personal characteristics and subjective experiences of infidelity, and including non-heterosexual participants.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under Contract no. APVV-18-0303.
References
Arnett, J. J. (2004). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from late teens through the twenties. Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Arnett J. J. (2018). Adolescence and emerging adulthood: a cultural approach. Pearson.Search in Google Scholar
Atkins, D. C., Baucom, D. H., & Jacobson, N. S. (2001). Understanding infidelity: Correlates in a national random sample. Journal of family psychology, 15(4), 735.10.1037//0893-3200.15.4.735Search in Google Scholar
Atkins, D. C., Marín, R. A., Lo, T. T. Y., Klann, N., & Hahlweg, K. (2010). Outcomes of couples with infidelity in a community-based sample of couple therapy. Journal of Family Psychology, 24, 212–216. doi:10.1037/a001878910.1037/a0018789Search in Google Scholar
Barta, W. D., & Kiene, S. M. (2005). Motivations for infidelity in heterosexual dating couples: The roles of gender, personality differences, and sociosexual orientation. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22(3), 339–360.10.1177/0265407505052440Search in Google Scholar
Bauman, Z. (2002). Tekutá modernita [Liquid modernity]. Mladá Fronta, Praha.Search in Google Scholar
Blow, A. J., & Hartnett, K. (2005). Infidelity in committed relationships II: A substantive review. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 31, 217–233.10.1111/j.1752-0606.2005.tb01556.xSearch in Google Scholar
Boekhout, B. A., Hendrick, S. S., & Hendrick, C. (2003). Exploring infidelity: Developing the relationship issues scale. Journal of Loss &Trauma, 8(4), 283–306. doi:10.1080/1532502030588210.1080/15325020305882Search in Google Scholar
Brand, R. J., Markey, C. M., Mills, A., & Hodges, S. R. (2007). Sex differences in selfreported infidelity and its correlates. Sex Roles, 57, 101–109.10.1007/s11199-007-9221-5Search in Google Scholar
Buss, D. M., Larsen, R. J., Westen, D., & Semmelroth, J. (1992). Sex differences in jealousy: Evolution, physiology, and psychology. Psychological Science, 3, 251–256.10.1111/j.1467-9280.1992.tb00038.xSearch in Google Scholar
Buunk, B. P., Angleitner, A., Oubaid, V., & Buss, D. M. (1996). Sex differences in jealousy in evolutionary and cultural perspective: Tests from the Netherlands, Germany, and the United States. Psychological Science, 7, 359–363.10.1111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00389.xSearch in Google Scholar
Buunk, B. (1980). Extramarital sex in the Netherlands: Motivation in social and marital context. Alternative Lifestyles, 3, 11–39.10.1007/BF01083027Search in Google Scholar
Buunk, B. P. (1995). Sex, self-esteem, dependency and extradyadic sexual experience as related to jealousy responses. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 12, 147–153.10.1177/0265407595121011Search in Google Scholar
Conley, T. D., Ziegler, A., Moors, A. C., Matsick, J. L., & Valentine, B. (2013). A critical examination of popular assumptions about the benefits and outcomes of monogamous relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 17(2), 124–141.10.1177/1088868312467087Search in Google Scholar
DePaulo, B. M., & Morris, W. L. (2005). Singles in society and science. Psychological Inquiry, 16, 57–83. doi:10.1080=1047840X.2005.968291810.1080=1047840X.2005.9682918Search in Google Scholar
DeSteno, D., Bartlett, M. Y., Braverman, J., & Salovey, P. (2002). Sex differences in jealousy: Evolutionary mechanism or artifact of measurement? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1103.10.1037//0022-3514.83.5.1103Search in Google Scholar
Edelstein, R. S., Chopik, W. J., & Kean, E. L. (2011). Sociosexuality moderates the association between testosterone and relationship status in men and women. Hormones and Behavior, 60, 248–255.10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.05.007Search in Google Scholar
Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis (No. 7). WW Norton & company.Search in Google Scholar
Erikson, E. H. (Ed.). (1963). Youth: Change and challenge. Basic books.Search in Google Scholar
Feldman, S. S., & Cauffman, E. (1999). Your cheatin’ heart: Attitudes, behaviors, and correlates of sexual betrayal in late adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 9, 227–252.10.1207/s15327795jra0903_1Search in Google Scholar
Finkel, E. J., Hui, C. M., Carswell, K. L., & Larson, G. M. (2014). The suffocation of marriage: Climbing Mount Maslow without enough oxygen. Psychological Inquiry, 25, 1–41.10.1080/1047840X.2014.863723Search in Google Scholar
Glass, S. P., & Wright, T. L. (1988). Clinical implications of research on extramarital involvement. In R. Brown & J. Fields (Eds.), Treatment of sexual problems in individual and couples therapy (pp. 301–346). New York, NY: PMA.Search in Google Scholar
Goldberg, A. (1975). A fresh look at perverse behavior. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 56, 335–342.Search in Google Scholar
Goldenberg, J. L., Landau, M. J., Pyszczynski, T., Cox, C. R., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S, & Dunnam, H. (2003). Gender-typical responses to sexual and emotional infidelity as a function of mortality salience induced self-esteem striving. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1585–1595.10.1177/0146167203256880Search in Google Scholar
Gordon, K. C., Baucom, D. H., & Snyder, D. K. (2004). An integrative intervention for promoting recovery from extramarital affairs. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 30, 213–231. doi: 10.1111/j.1752-0606.2004.tb01235.x10.1111/j.1752-0606.2004.tb01235.xSearch in Google Scholar
Haupert, M. L., Gesselman, A. N., Moors, A. C., Fisher, H. E., & Garcia, J. R. (2017). Prevalence of experiences with consensual nonmonogamous relationships: Findings from two national samples of single Americans. Journal of sex & marital therapy, 43(5), 424–440.10.1080/0092623X.2016.1178675Search in Google Scholar
Hubert, M., Bajos, N., & Sandfort T. (1998). Sexual behavior and HIV/AIDS in Europe. London: UCL PressSearch in Google Scholar
Jovchelovitch, S., & Bauer, M. W. (2000). Narrative interviewing. Qualitative researching with text, image and sound, 57-74.10.4135/9781849209731.n4Search in Google Scholar
Kallová, N., & Hargašová, L. (2021). Keď jeden chce viac než druhý: Ako asymetria v túžbe po partnerovi ovplyvňuje kvalitu romantických vzťahov počas vynárajúcej sa dospelosti [When one wants more than the other: How asymmetry in the desire for a partner affects the quality of romantic relationships during emerging adulthood]. In M. Baránková (Ed.), Community Psychology in Slovakia 2021: Proceedings from 8th Conference (pp. 136–179). Bratislava: Institute of Applied Psychology, Comenius University in Bratislava.Search in Google Scholar
Kaplánová, A., & Gregor, A. (2019). Guilt-and shame-proneness and their relation to perceptions of dating infidelity. Studia psychologica, 61(3), 145–158.10.21909/sp.2019.03.779Search in Google Scholar
Kinsey, A., Pomeroy, W., & Martin, C. (1948). Sexual behavior in the human male. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders.Search in Google Scholar
Levine, S. B. (2005). A clinical perspective on infidelity. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 20(2), 143–153.10.1080/14681990500113203Search in Google Scholar
Lewin, B., Fugl-Meyer, K., Helmius, G., Lalos, A., & Mansson, S. A. (Eds). (2000). Sex in Sweden. On the Swedish sexual life. Stockholm: National Institute of Public Health.Search in Google Scholar
Lieblich, A., Tuval-Mashiach, R., & Zilber, T. (1998). Narrative Research: Reading, analysis and interpretation. London: Sage Publications.10.4135/9781412985253Search in Google Scholar
Marín, R. A., Christensen, A., & Atkins, D. C. (2014). Infidelity and behavioral couple therapy: Relationship outcomes over 5 years following therapy. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 3(1), 1.10.1037/cfp0000012Search in Google Scholar
Martins, A., Pereira, M., Andrade, R., Dattilio, F. M., Narciso, I., & Canavarro, M. C. (2016). Infidelity in dating relationships: Gender-specific correlates of face-to-face and online extradyadic involvement. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45(1), 193-205.10.1007/s10508-015-0576-3Search in Google Scholar
Moller, N. P., & Vossler, A. (2015). Defining infidelity in research and couple counseling: A qualitative study. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 41(5), 487-497. doi: 10.1080/0092623X.2014.93131410.1080/0092623X.2014.931314Search in Google Scholar
Moors, A. C., Mastick, J. L., & Schechinger, H. A. (2017). Unique and shared relationship benefits of consensually non-monogamous and monogamous relationships: A review and insights for moving forward. European Psychologist, 22(1), 55–71.10.1027/1016-9040/a000278Search in Google Scholar
Potyszová, K., & Bártová, K. (2021). Romantická žárlivost u heterosexuálních a homosexuálních jedinců z pohledu evoluční psychologie [Evolutionary perspective of romantic jealousy in heterosexual and homosexual individuals]. Československá Psychologie, 65(1), 101–110.10.51561/cspsych.65.1.101Search in Google Scholar
Sagarin, B. J., Becker, D. V., Guadagno, R. E., Wilkinson, W. W., & Nicastle, L. D. (2012). A reproductive threat-based model of evolved sex differences in jealousy. Evolutionary Psychology, 10, 487–503.10.1177/147470491201000307Search in Google Scholar
Salmansohn, K. (2009). Prince harming syndrome: Break bad relationship patterns for good. Long Island City, NY: Langenscheidt Publishing Group.Search in Google Scholar
Seal, S. W., Agostinelli, G., & Hannet, C. A. (1994). Extradyadic romantic involvement: Moderating effects of sociosexuality and gender. Sex Roles, 3, 1–22.10.1007/BF01560274Search in Google Scholar
Schmitt, D. P. (2005). Sociosexuality from Argentina to Zimbabwe: A 48-nation study of sex, culture, and strategies of human mating. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28(2), 247.10.1017/S0140525X05000051Search in Google Scholar
Smiler, B. (2011). There’s no such thing as Polyamory. Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, 14.Search in Google Scholar
Spector-Mersel, G. (2010). Narrative research: Time for a paradigm. Narrative inquiry, 20(1), 204–224.10.1075/ni.20.1.10speSearch in Google Scholar
Thompson, A. E., Bagley, A. J., & Moore, E. A. (2018). Young men and women’s implicit attitudes towards consensually nonmonogamous relationships. Psychology & Sexuality, 9(2), 117–131.10.1080/19419899.2018.1435560Search in Google Scholar
Treas, J., & Giesen, D. (2000). Sexual infidelity among married men and cohabiting Americans. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 48–60.10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.00048.xSearch in Google Scholar
Trivers, R. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual selection and the descent of man 1871-1971, (pp 136–179). Chicago, IL: Aldine.10.4324/9781315129266-7Search in Google Scholar
Trop, J. L. (1988). Erotic and eroticized transference. A self-psychology perspective. Psychoanalytic psychology, 5(3), 269.10.1037//0736-9735.5.3.269Search in Google Scholar
Træen, B., Holmen, K., & Stigum, H. (2007). Extradyadic sexual relationships in Norway. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(1), 55–65.10.1007/s10508-006-9080-0Search in Google Scholar
Vangelisti, A. L., & Gerstenberger, M. (2004). Communication and marital infidelity. In J. Duncombe, K. Harrison, G. Allan, & D. Marsden (Eds.), The state of affairs: Explorations in infidelity and commitment (pp. 59–78). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.10.4324/9781410610652-4Search in Google Scholar
Wiederman, M. W., & Hurd, C. (1999). Extradyadic involvement during dating. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 16, 265–274.10.1177/0265407599162008Search in Google Scholar
Willey, A. (2006). ‘Christian nations’, ‘polygamic races’ and women’s rights: Toward a genealogy of non/monogamy and whiteness. Sexualities, 9(5), 530–546.10.1177/1363460706069964Search in Google Scholar
Wilson, K., Mattingly, B., Clark, E., Weidler, D., & Bequette, A. (2011). The gray area: Exploring attitudes toward infidelity and the development of the Perceptions of Dating Infidelity Scale. Journal of Social Psychology, 151(1), 63–86.10.1080/00224540903366750Search in Google Scholar
Wood, J., De Santis, C., Desmarais, S., & Milhausen, R. (2021). Motivations for engaging in consensually non-monogamous relationships. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1–20.10.1007/s10508-020-01873-xSearch in Google Scholar
Wright, R. (1994). The moral animal: The new science of evolutionary psychology. Pantheon Books.Search in Google Scholar
Yarab, P. E., Sensibaugh, C. C., & Allgeier, E. R. (1998). More than just sex: Gender differences in the incidence of self-defined unfaithful behavior in heterosexual dating relationships. Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 10(2), 45–57.10.1300/J056v10n02_03Search in Google Scholar
© 2022 Institute for Research in Social Communication, Slovak Academy of Sciences
Articles in the same Issue
- Early literacy curriculum and its journey to kindergarten classroom
- Medium-specific aspects of digital reading and their impact on reading comprehension
- Diverstity and centrism in two contrasting early childhood education and care systems: Slovakia and Indonesia compared
- For God and for nation! The ideologisation of schools and education under the changing relationship between church and state in Slovakia
- Civil defence education: (Non)specific dangers and destabilisation of actorship in education
- The internet’s role in promoting civic engagement in China and Singapore: A Confucian view
- Designing digital tools for quality assurance in 24-hour home-care in Austria
- Coronavirus anxiety in Slovakia during the second wave of the pandemic – Associations with depression, insomnia and generalized anxiety disorder
- Symbolic coping: Young people’s perspectives during the Covid-19 pandemic in three Central European countries
- A misfortune or a benefit? Young people’s quality of life and romantic relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic
- Individual representations of love and their social and cultural resources
- The other side of the coin: A narrative inquiry into the positive consequences of infidelity among young adults
Articles in the same Issue
- Early literacy curriculum and its journey to kindergarten classroom
- Medium-specific aspects of digital reading and their impact on reading comprehension
- Diverstity and centrism in two contrasting early childhood education and care systems: Slovakia and Indonesia compared
- For God and for nation! The ideologisation of schools and education under the changing relationship between church and state in Slovakia
- Civil defence education: (Non)specific dangers and destabilisation of actorship in education
- The internet’s role in promoting civic engagement in China and Singapore: A Confucian view
- Designing digital tools for quality assurance in 24-hour home-care in Austria
- Coronavirus anxiety in Slovakia during the second wave of the pandemic – Associations with depression, insomnia and generalized anxiety disorder
- Symbolic coping: Young people’s perspectives during the Covid-19 pandemic in three Central European countries
- A misfortune or a benefit? Young people’s quality of life and romantic relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic
- Individual representations of love and their social and cultural resources
- The other side of the coin: A narrative inquiry into the positive consequences of infidelity among young adults