Attitudes of College Females Toward Marital Exclusivity Over a Nine-Year Period

Abstract

Marital exclusivity refers to the degree to which activities with individuals other than the spouse are excluded from the marital relationship. Typically, this construct has been studied in the form of extramarital sexual relationships. Other types of extramarital relationships (e.g., work relationships, friendships), however, are more prevalent and have important implications for marital and personal satisfaction as well. The present study examined attitudes toward extramarital sexual relationships and extramarital nonsexual relations among college women over a nine year period. Results indicated little change in attitudes toward extramarital sexual or nonsexual relationships between 1980 and 1988 at either the item or scale level. The Attitudes Toward Marital Exclusivity Scale exhibited sound measurement properties (internal consistency, item-total score correlations) for all years of the study. Moreover, the scale met a variety of criteria for Guttman scaling. Finally, the importance of further investigation in the area of marital exclusivity is briefly discussed.