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Practicing What You Preach: Infidelity Attitudes as a Predictor of Fidelity

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Abstract

The current studies used the Perceptions of Dating Infidelity Scale (PDIS), which identifies attitudes toward three types of behaviors indicative of cheating: Ambiguous, Deceptive, and Explicit behaviors, to predict actual infidelity behaviors. Participants reported their attitude toward these behaviors and then reported their willingness to engage in these behaviors with a hypothetical target (Study 1) and reported actually engaging in these behaviors over the course of one month (Study 2). Study 1 showed that attitudes for Ambiguous and Deceptive behaviors significantly predict a willingness to engage in these behaviors with a hypothetical target. Study 2 showed that attitudes toward Ambiguous behaviors significantly predict actual engagement in Ambiguous behaviors during the course of one month.

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Notes

  1. Because the results reported in Study 1 were part of a larger experiment in which participants completed a variety of tasks, completion time was not recorded. The sole purpose of Study 2, however, was to examine how infidelity attitudes predicted actual behavior. Thus, the completion time gathered in Study 2 provides insight as to whether participants were motivated and attentive when completing the questionnaires.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Murray State University, 209 Wells Hall, Murray, KY, 42071, USA

    Jana Hackathorn

  2. Ashland University, Ashland, OH, USA

    Brent A. Mattingly

  3. Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Eddie M. Clark & Melinda J. B. Mattingly

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  1. Jana Hackathorn
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  2. Brent A. Mattingly
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  3. Eddie M. Clark
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  4. Melinda J. B. Mattingly
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Correspondence to Jana Hackathorn.

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Hackathorn, J., Mattingly, B.A., Clark, E.M. et al. Practicing What You Preach: Infidelity Attitudes as a Predictor of Fidelity. Curr Psychol 30, 299–311 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-011-9119-9

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