Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Understanding the Cheating Heart: What Determines Infidelity Intentions?

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Sexuality & Culture Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Infidelity is experienced in many relationships. This paper seeks to determine the correlates of infidelity intentions among a sample of 512 individuals. Results imply that favourable attitudes, social approval and the perceived ease of attracting a partner are positively related to infidelity intentions. More than this, attitudes were the most significant correlate of infidelity intentions. Attitudes, in turn, were influenced by gender, religiosity and infidelity experiences.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen, I. (2012). The theory of planned behavior. In P. A. Van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 367–393). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1969). The prediction of behavioral intentions in a choice situation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 5(4), 400–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, E. S., & Baucom, D. H. (2004). Adult attachment and patterns of extradyadic involvement. Family Process, 43(4), 467–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrus, S., Redfering, D., & Oglesby, J. (1977). Attitude, desire, and frequency of extramarital involvement as correlated with subject characteristics. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 5(1), 131–136.

    Article  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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkins, D. C., & Kessel, D. E. (2008). Religiousness and infidelity: Attendance, but not faith and prayer, predict marital fidelity. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70(2), 407–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banfield, S., & McCabe, M. P. (2001). Extra relationship involvement among women: Are they different from men? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 30(2), 119–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burdette, A. M., Ellison, C. G., Sherkat, D. E., & Gore, K. A. (2007). Are there religious variations in marital infidelity? Journal of Family Issues, 28(12), 1553–1581.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M. (1994). The evolution of desire: Strategies of human mating. New York, NY: Basic books.

  • Buss, D. M. (1996). Paternity uncertainty and the complex repertoire of human mating strategies. American Psychologist, 51(2), 161–162.

  • Buunk, B. P., & Bakker, A. B. (1995). Extradyadic sex: The role of descriptive and injunctive norms. Journal of Sex Research, 32(4), 313–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, B. P., & Van Driel, B. (1989). Variant lifestyles and relationships. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cano, A., & O’Leary, K. D. (2000). Infidelity and separations precipitate major depressive episodes and symptoms of nonspecific depression and anxiety. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(5), 774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dainton, M., & Gross, J. (2008). The use of negative behaviors to maintain relationships. Communication Research Reports, 25(3), 179–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daly, M., & Wilson, M. (1988). Homicide. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

  • Dollahite, D. C., & Lambert, N. M. (2007). Forsaking all others: How religious involvement promotes marital fidelity in Christian, Jewish and Muslim couples. Review of Religious Research, 48(3), 290–307.

  • Drake, C. R., & Mcabe, M. P. (2000). Extrarelationship involvement among heterosexual males: An explanation based on the theory of planned behavior, relationship quality, and past behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30(7), 1421–1439.

    Article  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(3), 227–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Festinger, L., & Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58(2), 203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finer, L. B., Darroch, J. E., & Singh, S. (1999). Sexual partnership patterns as a behavioral risk factor for sexually transmitted diseases. Family Planning Perspectives, 31(5), 228–236.

  • Glass, S. P., & Wright, T. L. (1992). Justifications for extramarital relationships: The association between attitudes, behaviors, and gender. Journal of Sex Research, 29(3), 361–387.

    Article  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(2), 213–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, J. H., & Fincham, F. D. (2009). Psychological distress: Precursor or consequence of dating infidelity? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(2), 143–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janus, S. S., & Janus, C. L. (1993). The Janus report on sexual behavior. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, W. H., & Burdette, M. P. (1994). Betrayal in relationships. In A. L. Weber & J. H. Harvey (Eds.), Perspectives on close relationships (pp. 243–262). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

  • Jones, D., Olderbak, S., & Figueredo, A. (2010). The intentions towards infidelity scale. In T. Fisher, C. Davis, W. Yarber, & S. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of sexuality-related measures. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaighobadi, F., Shackelford, T. K., Popp, D., Moyer, R. M., Bates, V. M., & Liddle, J. R. (2009). Perceived risk of female infidelity moderates the relationship between men’s personality and partner-directed violence. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(6), 1033–1039.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lammers, J., Stoker, J. I., Jordan, J., Pollmann, M., & Stapel, D. A. (2011). Power increases infidelity among men and women. Psychological Science, 22(9), 1191–1197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, L. K., & Goltz, W. (1989). Religious participation and marital commitment. Review of Religious Research, 30(4), 387–400.

  • Lieberman, B. (1988). Extrapremarital intercourse: Attitudes toward a neglected sexual behavior. Journal of sex research, 24(1), 291–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maddox Shaw, A. M., Rhoades, G. K., Allen, E. S., Stanley, S. M., & Markman, H. J. (2013). Predictors of extradyadic sexual involvement in unmarried opposite-sex relationships. Journal of Sex Research, 50(6), 598–610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mark, K. P., Janssen, E., & Milhausen, R. R. (2011). Infidelity in heterosexual couples: Demographic, interpersonal, and personality-related predictors of extradyadic sex. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(5), 971–982.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mattingly, B. A., Wilson, K., Clark, E. M., Bequette, A. W., & Weidler, D. J. (2010). Foggy faithfulness: Relationship quality, religiosity, and the perceptions of dating infidelity scale in an adult sample. Journal of Family Issues, 31(11), 1465–1480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munsch, C. L. (2012). The science of two-timing: The state of infidelity research. Sociology Compass, 6(1), 46–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prins, K. S., Buunk, B. P., & VanYperen, N. W. (1993). Equity, normative disapproval and extramarital relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 10(1), 39–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sagarin, B. J., Becker, D. V., Guadagno, R. E., Nicastle, L. D., & Millevoi, A. (2003). Sex differences (and similarities) in jealousy: The moderating influence of infidelity experience and sexual orientation of the infidelity. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24(1), 17–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharpe, D. I., Walters, A. S., & Goren, M. J. (2013). Effect of cheating experience on attitudes toward infidelity. Sexuality and Culture, 17(4), 643–658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheppard, V. J., Nelso, E. S., & Andreoli-Mathie, V. (1995). Dating relationships and infidelity: Attitudes and behaviors. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 21(3), 202–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, T. W. (1998). American sexual behavior: Trends, socio-demographic differences, and risk behavior. Chicago: National Opinion Research Center.

  • Tafoya, M., & Spitzberg, B. (2007). The dark side of infidelity: Its nature, prevalence, and communicative functions. The Dark Side of Interpersonal Communication, 2, 201–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tagler, M. J., & Jeffers, H. M. (2012). Sex differences in attitudes toward partner infidelity. Evolutionary Psychology: An International Journal of Evolutionary Approaches to Psychology and Behavior, 11(4), 821–832.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, A. P. (1984). Emotional and sexual components of extramarital relations. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 46(1), 35–42.

  • Træen, B., Holmen, K., & Stigum, H. (2007). Extradyadic sexual relationships in Norway. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(1), 55–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trafimow, D., & Finlay, K. A. (1996). The importance of subjective norms for a minority of people: Between subjects and within-subjects analyses. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(8), 820–828.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treas, J., & Giesen, D. (2000). Sexual infidelity among married and cohabiting Americans. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(1), 48–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whatley, M. (2006). Attitudes towards infidelity scale. Department of Psychology, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia.

  • Whisman, M. A., Gordon, K. C., & Chatav, Y. (2007). Predicting sexual infidelity in a population-based sample of married individuals. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(2), 320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whisman, M. A., & Snyder, D. K. (2007). Sexual infidelity in a national survey of American women: Differences in prevalence and correlates as a function of method of assessment. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(2), 147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitty, M. T. (2003). Pushing the wrong buttons: Men’s and women’s attitudes toward online and offline infidelity. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 6(6), 569–579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiederman, M. W. (1997). Extramarital sex: Prevalence and correlates in a national survey. Journal of Sex Research, 34(2), 167–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, M. I., & Daly, M. (1996). Male sexual proprietariness and violence against wives. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 5(1), 2–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Social Change, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Mahalia Jackman

Authors
  1. Mahalia Jackman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mahalia Jackman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jackman, M. Understanding the Cheating Heart: What Determines Infidelity Intentions?. Sexuality & Culture 19, 72–84 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-014-9248-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-014-9248-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation