Adultery

Prevalence

Research on the prevalence of adultery has focused almost exclusively on the rate at which people engage in sexual behavior outside of the primary relationship. Estimates vary from study to study, but the general finding is that approximately 20 percent of women (about 1 in 5) and approximately 30 percent of men (about 1 in 3) have committed sexual infidelity. While the exact rates of infidelity vary, studies consistently show that men report a greater rate of sexual infidelity than do women. However, due to the socialization of men and women, men may be prone to overreport their rates of infidelity (or at least report the actions accurately) in order to appear macho, while women may be prone to underreport their actions in order to appear chaste. Regardless, adultery violates the norm of sexual exclusivity. As a result, it is widely disapproved of in American society and is the most commonly cited reason for divorce in over 150 cultures.

Predictors

Despite strong societal disapproval, people may commit adultery due to social, relationship, situational, and individual factors. At the social level, a study by Judith Treas and Deirdre Giesen in 2000 found that those with less religious involvement and a higher acceptance of cohabitation as an alternative to marriage were more likely to commit adultery. The study also found that at the relationship level, those who were unhappy with their marriages were more likely to commit adultery. Unhappiness in the relationship may result from any number of factors, such as emotional or sexual incompatibility or boredom. Thus, if the primary relationship is not able to fulfill one's needs for excitement or general affection, adultery is more likely. It is unclear, however, whether adultery is the result of a floundering primary relationship heading toward divorce or whether adultery leads a stable relationship toward divorce. Denise Prevati and Paul Amato in 2004 examined data from couples over 17 years as part of a longitudinal design to determine whether adultery was the result of a poor relationship or led to a poor relationship. Their analysis suggested that happiness by itself did not predict adultery but that those who felt divorce was likely were more likely to commit adultery. Further, adultery also decreased existing relationship satisfaction and increased perceived likelihood of divorce. These processes were similar for men and women.

Situational factors may also lead to adultery. On a more malicious level, a person may engage in adultery out of anger or as a means of retribution for the partner's bad behavior or for the emotional pain the partner has caused. While this is a possibility, adultery is also the result of comparatively innocent processes, such as when an attractive person notices or comments on another person in a flattering way. This situation has the potential to lead to thoughts of adultery among people in the most stable, happy, and successful relationships. Similarly, adultery may result from [Page 14]falling in love with another person. For example, this can occur in the context of a long-term friendship or acquaintance that has evolved into something more substantial for situational reasons (perhaps the dissolution of the other person's relationship). Alternately, a person may fall in love suddenly with a new person. In any of these cases, it may not be that adultery is purely the result of flattery or falling in love, but instead could be the result of one's own desire to end the primary relationship. Thus, due to the widespread disapproval of adultery, engaging in such behavior could be used as a way to expeditiously end a relationship that encourages one's partner to take the initiative to ultimately end the relationship.

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