INFIDELITY IN COMMITTED RELATIONSHIPS II: A SUBSTANTIVE REVIEW

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Apr 2005 by Blow, Adrian J, Hartnett, Kelley

Sexual satisfaction in the primary relationship. Although some researchers may disagree (e.g., Wiggins & Lederer, 1984), most research suggests that sexual satisfaction in the primary relationship may play a part in individuals' inclination toward infidelity. For example, Liu (2000), who used National Health and Social Life Survey data to test a theoretical model of marital sexual life, concluded that the decline in frequency of sexual activity in a marriage leads to a higher incidence of infidelity, especially for men. Liu further suggests that the quality of the sexual relationship in the marriage could also influence infidelity.

In a large study that focused on sexual infidelity and HIV risk, Choi et al. (1994) found that race plays a part in the relationship between sexual satisfaction and infidelity. Although they found no association between those variables for White participants, "African Americans who reported sexual problems and Hispanic men with poor sexual communication skills were more likely to report [sexual infidelity]" (Choi et al., 1994, p. 2005). Race may not be the only interactional variable between sexual satisfaction and infidelity; gender appears to play a part as well. For instance, Liu (2000) found that the negative relationship between sexual satisfaction and infidelity is stronger for men, whereas Prins et al. (1993) found the correlation stronger for women. However, Prins et al. found no difference between men and women in terms of how sexual satisfaction influenced the desire to engage in infidelity.

Length of the primary relationship. For women, longer primary relationships seem to have a greater correlation with infidelity than do shorter relationships (Forste & Tanfer, 1996). According to Forste and Tanfer (1996), this finding holds true for dating women, cohabiting women, and married women; Hansen (1987) did not find this correlation with dating women. For married women overall, their rates of likelihood of EM involvement reach a peak in the seventh year of marriage and decline steadily thereafter (Liu, 2000). For married men, in contrast, longer relationships correlate with a decreased likelihood of infidelity, but reach a critical point in the eighteenth year of marriage, at which time the chance that men will have an infidelity begins to increase (Liu, 2000). For men in dating relationships, the longer they have been dating someone, the greater the chance that they will engage in sexual activities with someone else (Hansen, 1987). This may have something to do with the level of commitment in the dating relationship. Treas and Giesen (2000) found no correlation between relational length and infidelity whatsoever. Note that all of these studies are cross-sectional, which puts into question the validity of their findings.

Presence and number of children in the primary relationship. It is thought that having children together increases partners' sense of investment in their relationship (Belsky, 1990), and Liu (2000) theorizes that having children acts as a deterrent against infidelity. In contrast, many studies report that children decrease the relational and sexual satisfaction of some couples due to increased demands, stress, and commitments (Gottman & Notarius, 2000). Given the negative correlation between relationship satisfaction and infidelity reported in certain studies, some couples with children may actually be more vulnerable to infidelity. Unfortunately, research says very little on this subject, and most studies do not take into consideration or even report the number of children in relationships. Future research should consider both the number of children in a primary relationship as well as specific child characteristics and parent-child dynamics. Potentially telling areas of investigation include ages of the children (teenager vs. toddler vs. infant), stepchildren, adopted children versus biological children, children with disabilities, and the like. Researchers have likewise offered very little information on other, specific life Stressors that might affect a relationship and increase the likelihood of infidelity, such as spousal illness or injury.