An examination of gender differences in attitudes towards partner infidelity

The present study is designed to take a new approach to studying gender differences in reactions to partner infidelity by measuring attitudes toward partner infidelity. No previous studies have directly examined attitudes toward partner sexual versus emotional infidelity, nor have studies assessed the strength of these attitudes. Thus, this study was designed as an initial investigation of overall evaluative differences between men and women. It was found that women held significantly more negative attitudes towards emotional infidelity than did men, with no gender differences in attitude held towards sexual infidelity. For sexual infidelity, more positive attitudes toward partner sexual infidelity were associated with lower reported distress for both men and women, with the relationship being significantly more pronounced for men. For emotional infidelity, attitude strength moderated the relationship between attitude towards emotional infidelity and distress about emotional infidelity. There was a significant relationship between attitudes toward partner emotional infidelity and distress when attitude strength was high but not when attitude strength was low.Department of Psychological ScienceThesis (M.A.

The disengagement of attentive resources from task-irrelevant cues to sexual and emotional infidelity

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Personality and Individual Differences. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2008 Elsevier B.V.The present study tests two predictions derived from the evolutionary view of jealousy. (1) For men the disengagement of attentive resources from task-irrelevant cues to sexual infidelity is more difficult than from neutral or emotional infidelity cues. Conversely, for women the disengagement of attentive resources from task-irrelevant cues to emotional infidelity is more difficult than from neutral or sexual infidelity cues. (2) These difficulties are especially pronounced in participants currently involved in a committed romantic relationship. In each trial either an affectively neutral, an emotional infidelity or sexual infidelity distractor was simultaneously presented with a target sentence. The last trial was followed by a recall test for the targets and distractors. The results confirmed both predictions. Implications and limitations of the present study are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided

Staying Together: The Journey of Healing after Infidelity

Relationships are an important aspect of a fulfilling life. They can bring joy and pleasure or pain and devastation. One of the most detrimental issues within the context of committed relationships is infidelity, and subsequently it is one of the most prevalent issues seen in therapy. Although it is a common presenting problem in couples therapy, research on the treatment and healing of infidelity is limited. A majority of the literature is focused on the clinician’s point of view rather than the couples’ perspective. The purpose of this study is to present the results of a qualitative study of eight public weblogs in which individuals and couples described their experience with healing from infidelity. Utilizing grounded theory procedures, the researchers are seeking to identify factors outlined by the bloggers that contributed to their healing experienc

Adaptive quantum state tomography improves accuracy quadratically

We introduce a simple protocol for adaptive quantum state tomography, which reduces the worst-case infidelity between the estimate and the true state from $O(N^{-1/2})$ to $O(N^{-1})$. It uses a single adaptation step and just one extra measurement setting. In a linear optical qubit experiment, we demonstrate a full order of magnitude reduction in infidelity (from $0.1$ to $0.01$) for a modest number of samples ($N=3\times10^4$).Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Two Sides to Every Story: Investigating changes in cultural attitudes using discourse analysis in computer-mediated infidelity discussions

Despite overt cultural consensus on the reprehensible nature of infidelity, prevalence rates of infidelity behavior remain elevated— highlighting a substantial discrepancy between widely-accepted infidelity practices and actual behavior. To understand this incongruence and elucidate the cultural meaning of infidelity, communication surrounding infidelity warrants extensive scrutiny. The study employs methods of discourse analysis to investigate three Reddit threads from 2017, 2019, and 2021, that address infidelity. I make a case that recent changes in the discourse surrounding infidelity reflect changes in broader societal attitudes and accepted practices concerning infidelity. Using empirical methods of discourse analysis, I conducted three analytical procedures to describe the computer-mediated communication surrounding infidelity on Reddit. These descriptions focus on the structural descriptive statistics and modified speech act analysis of the user discourse. Findings indicate that the changes in the user discourse structure over the past five years signify cultural advancements toward more supportive perspectives of infidelity. The analyses evidence stronger convictions surrounding infidelity, yet they also reveal increased uncertainty regarding the criteria for infidelity. Overall, the Reddit discourse signals a potential cultural shift toward higher rates of self-disclosure and prosocial support for those who have participated in or been affected by acts of infidelity

The intentional object of romantic jealousy

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Evolution and Human Behavior. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2008 Elsevier B.V.Three studies tested the hypothesis derived from evolutionary psychological considerations of sex differences in the intentional object of romantic jealousy. In Studies 1 and 3, participants had to indicate in a forced choice whether their jealousy would be primarily directed towards the partner or the rival. In Study 2, participants rated separately the extent to which their jealousy would be primarily aimed at the partner and the rival. In Studies 1 and 2, the participants' answers referred to either a mate's actual emotional or sexual infidelity; in Study 3 they referred to suspected infidelity. As predicted, in each study, significantly more women than men reported that their jealousy would be primarily directed at the rival. Also, as predicted, these sex differences were especially pronounced when confronted with the adaptively primary infidelity type (i. e., male emotional and female sexual infidelity, respectively). Finally, Study 3 additionally showed that these sex differences are moderated by the participants' current relationship status and their own unfaithfulness. Limitations and implications of the findings are discussed.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaf

The realness of cybercheating : men's and women's representations of unfaithful internet relationships

This paper considers the deviant behaviour of Internet infidelity. Although a plethora of research has been conducted on offline infidelity and jealousy, to date, there has been very little written about Internet infidelity and jealousy associated with cyber-relationships. Given the potential problems that online infidelity might bring to a relationship, this area of research warrants some attention. This study drew from Kitzinger and Powell’s (1995) story completion method in order to explore men and women’s understandings of Internet infidelity. Two hundred and thirty-four participants wrote a story to a cue relating to Internet infidelity. While not all participants saw this as a real act of betrayal the majority did see this as not only real infidelity, but as also having as serious an impact on the couple as a traditional offline affair. The most important finding here was that emotional infidelity was given as much attention as sexual infidelity was. Moreover, similar gender differences found in studies on offline infidelity emerged in this research. These results present a way forward in our thinking about cyber-affairs

Kecemburuan pada Laki-laki dan Perempuan dalam Menghadapi Perselingkuhan Pasangan melalui Media Internet

Research on the type of infidelity that causes jealousy in men and women show consistent results, namely that men are more jealous of sexual infidelity in the face of a partner than women, whereas women are more jealous in the face of emotional infidelity than male partners. Infidelity through the internet a threat to the relationship to the individual in modern times now. Therefore, this study find out about the differences of men and women in the face of emotional infidelity and sexual partner through internet media. This hypothesis was tested using a forced-choice dilemmas in which participants (N = 168) were asked to choose the type of infidelityis more cause of jealousy: emotional or sexual. The results show that in the face of a partner's infidelity via the Internet media, both men and women were significantly more jealous in dealing with emotional infidelity than sexual infidelity. Women, when compared with men, more jealous partner in dealing with emotional infidelity, but there were no significant differences between male and female partner's sexual infidelity in the face.The results of this study will be discussed in the context of the theory ofevolutionary psychology. This important study carried out in order to arise the awareness that the relationship over the Internet can provide a serious effect on relationships in the real world