How contingencies of self-worth influence reactions to emotional and sexual infidelity

Abstract

How do men and women interpret the meaning of sexual infidelities? Is it different from the way they interpret emotional infidelities? People make different attributions regarding infidelity depending on their self-worth. The influence of this intrapsychic factor on reactions to infidelity deserves greater study. Some people will construe infidelity as evidence of their partners' lack of trustworthiness. Others might attribute infidelity to situational factors beyond anyone's control, and avoid blaming their partners altogether. However, if one's sense of self-worth is highly contingent on external sources their attributions may change. In these cases, one may interpret infidelity to mean that others find him or her undesirable and unlovable. In the present study, we sought to investigate how self-worth might influence reactions to sexual versus emotional infidelity using the Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale (CSWS) and the Buss Jealousy Instrument. A chi square analysis was used to determine whether reactions to infidelity depended on sex and Hotelling's T-square test was used to determine whether CSWS domains were dependent on sex. Binomial logistic regressions were conducted to assess between-sex and within-sex differences in reactions to emotional versus sexual infidelity. There was no significant difference between men's and women's reactions to sexual versus emotional infidelity. Greater distress associated with sexual infidelity was found in men whose self-worth was contingent on competition, but this difference was not found in women. Clinicians may benefit from an awareness of how intrapsychic factors influence clients' reactions to infidelity.