Adultery Research Articles

Matters of survival: a case of heavy handed didactic moralism in Ndau cautionary folktales

This paper discusses the Ndau folktale that has not received scrutiny from scholars who have invested resources in studying oral literature of the Zimbabwean people. During the years that Ndau was regarded as a Shona dialect it occupied the most peripheral position and its oral traditions were equally marginalized. This writer posits that in Ndau folklore there is a type of folktale that served to conscientize Ndau people about their historical circumstances for the sake of their safety and security. The researcher identifies folktales that reflect the history of Ndau labor migrations and Ndau experiences during Nguni raids. The writer concludes that the origins of this type of folktale, which is not found in the tales of the other Shona people of whom the Ndau were part up to 2013, is to be sought in the history and existential circumstances of the Ndau people themselves. The writer selects three folktales to illustrate risks faced by those who traveled to South African mines, cases of sexual infidelity during the long periods of spousal separation, and the dangers that befell locals during times of Nguni raids.

Investigating the emergence of sex differences in jealousy responses in a large community sample from an evolutionary perspective

Sex differences in jealousy responses to sexual and emotional infidelity are robust in samples of heterosexual adults, especially in more gender egalitarian nations. However, investigations of when and how these differences develop have been scant. We applied two forced choice infidelity scenarios in a large community sample of high school students (age 16–19, N = 1266). In line with previous findings on adults using the forced choice paradigm, adolescent males found the sexual aspect of imagined infidelity more distressing than adolescent females did. Nevertheless, there was no effect of age on the jealousy responses, and age did not moderate the sex difference. There were neither any effects of three covariates (having had first sexual intercourse, being in a committed romantic relationship, and sociosexuality), neither as markers of pubertal maturation nor as psychosocial environmental stimuli. Future research needs to investigate even younger samples in order to specify at what age the sex difference in jealousy responses emerges.

Life Suspension: Representation of Marital Infidelity in the Films of the 1380s and 1390s of Iranian Cinema

IntroductionCinema as one of the main arts of our world has reflected on many social issues in recent decades. Infidelity as a social phenomenon includes behaviours outside the marital relations by married couples. Infidelity is a sensitive phenomenon for a person and society and can lead to several problems for couples and family members. Consequently, social actors and thinkers have reflected on this in different ways. One way to look at a social issue such as infidelity is to investigate cultural products such as novels and movies. Cinema is one of the most important visual arts which can have a great impact on the viewer and be a suitable platform for understanding social issues. Many movies address the causes and consequences of infidelity. Infidelity is among the issues addressed in cinema in recent decades and many narratives of it have been represented in the Iranian and world cinema. We studied how this notion is represented in the last two decades. The aim of this qualitative research was to investigate how marital infidelity is represented in cinema films. The research question is: How are the contexts, consequences, and couple reactions about infidelity narrated? Materials and MethodsThis research has been conducted with a qualitative approach and its implementation method is close to narrative analysis among various qualitative research methods. The data were gathered through watching the selected films and especially the dialogues. Accordingly, the data collection method was observation-documentary. After reviewing more than 50 films related to the issue, 14 films were selected by the purposeful sampling method with a focus on the films focusing on infidelity produced from 2001 to 2020 in the Iranian cinema. The selected films were: Yalda Night, Santouri, Chaharshanbeh Soori, Saadat Abad, Private Life, Wooden Bridge, I am his Wife, Mr. Mahmoudi and Banoo cohabitation, Snow on the Pines, Love Period, Ice Age, Anger and Commotion, We are Not Used to, and Smoky under the Roof. For data analysis, the thematic analysis method was used in order to code and represent the data.. The goal of thematic analysis was to report on the content and meaning of patterns in the data. Discussion of Results and ConclusionsThe main constructed themes from the films included sexual and emotional infidelity, marital dissatisfaction, social context, personal anomy, infidelity as vengeance, imperative acceptance, self-disorganization, and disruption of family relations. The final theme showed infidelity as life suspension implying infidelity as a result and cause of this suspension. It became clear that marital infidelity represents a kind of suspension in life. According to the findings, infidelity is represented in Iranian cinema as a suspension. All the dialogues and scenes show a suspended and undecided life. The narrative of this uncertainty is not common to all films, but they have major commonalities.The most important reason for marital infidelity reflected by the movies is marital dissatisfaction. It is the main factor that directly causes marital infidelity and has negative relationship outcomes. In this way, the greater the satisfaction of married life is, the less the possibility of committing infidelity will be. We examined the reasons for infidelity at three levels of societal, personal, and interpersonal harm. Finally, we came to the conclusion that social and personal harms affect marital dissatisfaction as well as infidelity. Moving away from traditional and patriarchal thinking, addiction, rethinking sexual and emotional issues, fluidity in relationships, irresponsibility and secrecy, dissatisfaction in married life are among factors contributing to marital infidelity.

Amphetamine-fuelled manic fornication. The case of Dean Cassady

Amphetamine-fuelled manic fornication. The case of Dean Cassady

Romantická žárlivost u heterosexuálních a homosexuálních jedinců z pohledu evoluční psychologie

Jealousy is defined as one of the most common automatic responses to endangering a relationship by a third party, and in evolutionary psychology it has the function of maximizing self-reproduction fitness, ensuring paternity security in men, and maintaining partner's resources in women. These include romantic jealousy, in men assuring certainty of paternity, and in women assuring the maintenance of partner's resources. Thus, according to this logic, a woman’s sexual infidelity should be more threatening for men and a man’s emotional infidelity (emotional involvement with other women than a primary partner) should be more threatening for women. Many previous studies confirm the existence of sex differences in jealousy; men reporting a higher level of sexual jealousy and women reporting a higher level of emotional jealousy. On the contrary, studies of romantic jealousy in homosexual individuals show inconsistent results. Some studies suggest that the type of sexual and emotional jealousy does not depend on the sex of the individual who is jealous, but rather on the sex of the partner or the sex of the rival. Therefore, the aim of this review is to introduce romantic jealousy from an evolutionary perspective and to acquaint the reader with current knowledge of the study of cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects of romantic jealousy in heterosexual and homosexual men and women.

Intranasal oxytocin may help maintain romantic bonds by decreasing jealousy evoked by either imagined or real partner infidelity.

While romantic jealousy may help to maintain relationships, following partner infidelity and an irretrievable loss of trust it can also promote break-ups. The neuropeptide oxytocin can enhance the maintenance of social bonds and reduce couple conflict, although its influence on jealousy evoked by imagined or real infidelity is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) on romantic jealousy in both males and females in imagined and real contexts. Seventy heterosexual couples participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-subject design study. Jealousy was firstly quantified in the context of subjects imagining partner infidelity and secondly in a Cyberball game where their partner interacted preferentially with an opposite-sexed rival stranger to simulate partner exclusion, or rejected a neutral stranger but not the partner. Oxytocin primarily decreased jealousy and arousal ratings towards imagined emotional and sexual infidelity by a partner in both sexes. During the Cyberball game, while male and female subjects in both groups subsequently threw the ball least often to the rival stranger, under oxytocin they showed reduced romantic jealousy and arousal ratings for stranger players, particularly the rival one, and reported reduced negative and increased positive feelings while playing the game. Together, our results suggest that oxytocin can reduce the negative emotional impact of jealousy in established romantic partners evoked by imagined or real infidelity or exclusive social interactions with others. This provides further support for oxytocin promoting maintenance of relationships.

Sexual Interactions and Sexual Infidelity

This paper establishes what constitutes a sexual interaction between two or more people. It does this by first defining a sexual activity as one in which the agent intends to satisfy a sexual desire (i.e. a desire for sexual pleasure). To understand what it means to engage in a sexual activity with another person, it draws from Bratman’s account of shared collaborative activity. A sexual interaction is defined as one in which two or more people engage in a sexual activity together, with the intention of satisfying a sexual desire (or some sexual desires) in a mutually responsive and mutually supportive way. The paper then uses this account to consider what things constitute sexual infidelity. The answer is a broad one: many things can count as sexual interactions and hence can be considered to be sexual infidelity. Contrary to what a lot of people think, this can include the private use of pornography.

"So-called privacy breeds evil"

A growing body of research suggests that intimate partner abusers use digital technologies to surveil their partners, including by installing spyware apps, compromising devices and online accounts, and employing social engineering tactics. However, to date, this form of privacy violation, called intimate partner surveillance (IPS), has primarily been studied from the perspective of victim-survivors. We present a qualitative study of how potential perpetrators of IPS harness the emotive power of sharing personal narratives to validate and legitimise their abusive behaviours. We analysed 556 stories of IPS posted on publicly accessible online forums dedicated to the discussion of sexual infidelity. We found that many users share narrative posts describing IPS as they boast about their actions, advise others on how to perform IPS without detection, and seek suggestions for next steps to take. We identify a set of common thematic story structures, justifications for abuse, and outcomes within the stories that provide a window into how these individuals believe their behaviour to be justified. Using these stories, we develop a four-stage framework that captures the change in a potential perpetrator's approach to IPS. We use our findings and framework to guide a discussion of efforts to combat abuse, including how we can identify crucial moments where interventions might be safely applied to prevent or deescalate IPS.

A Biosocial Perspective on the Relationship of Sexual Infidelity to Intimate Partner Violence Focusing on Socioeconomic Factors, Cohabiting Unions, and Children

Data from the National Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) were used to analyze relationships between sexual infidelity and intimate partner violence (IPV). A biosocial perspective was advanced and compared to criminological theories. General estimating equations, fit for repeated observations of binary outcomes, were used to estimate the impact on the odds of IPV changing between waves 3 and 4 of the data in response to changes in experiences with infidelity. Analyses suggest that socioeconomic factors of educational attainment and employment may serve as mitigating variables in the perpetration of IPV. Men were more likely to cheat, but less likely to perpetrate IPV when employed full-time. Women were more likely than men to report perpetrating IPV but were less likely to respond violently to infidelity as their educational attainment level increased. Cohabiting and children increased the risk of IPV for men and women and were not found to modify the link between infidelity and IPV for either sex. Findings were largely consistent with the expectations of a biosocial perspective but also offered mixed support for criminological theories.

Avoiding information about one’s romantic partner

Research links open communication and self-disclosure to a host of beneficial outcomes in romantic relationships, including better relationship quality, relationship satisfaction, feelings of closeness and commitment, and relationship longevity. However, learning some information about a partner may evoke negative consequences. In two studies, we examined the types of information people may wish to avoid learning about their past or current romantic partners (Study 1), and individual differences in avoidance of information about a current romantic partner (Study 2). Content-coding of data from Study 1 revealed that a majority (51%) of respondents wished to avoid information related to their partner’s history of sexual behavior and/or infidelity. In Study 2, participants who were older and who scored higher on measures of anxious and avoidant attachment were more likely to want to avoid information about their partner. Furthermore, replicating and extending Study 1, participants most wished to avoid information about their partners’ prior sexual behavior and/or infidelity, as well as their partners’ prejudices. We interpret our findings in terms of a threat-management framework for information avoidance, suggesting that threats to the self and relationship may influence the decision to avoid information about a romantic partner.

Voice Pitch \u2013 A Valid Indicator of One\u2019s Unfaithfulness in Committed Relationships?

ObjectivesWhen judging a male speakers’ likelihood to act sexually unfaithful in a committed relationship, listeners rely on the speakers’ voice pitch such that lower voice pitch is perceived as indicating being more unfaithful. In line with this finding, a recent study (Schild et al. Behavioral Ecology, 2020) provided first evidence that voice pitch might indeed be a valid cue to sexual infidelity in men. In this study, male speakers with lower voice pitch, as indicated by lower mean fundamental frequency (mean F0), were actually more likely to report having been sexually unfaithful in the past. Although these results fit the literature on vocal perceptions in contexts of sexual selection, the study was, as stated by the authors, underpowered. Further, the study solely focused on male speakers, which leaves it open whether these findings are also transferable to female speakers.MethodsWe reanalyzed three datasets (Asendorpf et al. European Journal of Personality, 25, 16–30, 2011; Penke and Asendorpf Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1113–1135, 2008; Stern et al. 2020) that include voice recordings and infidelity data of overall 865 individuals (63,36% female) in order to test the replicability of and further extend past research.ResultsA significant negative link between mean F0 and self-reported infidelity was found in only one out of two datasets for men and only one out of three datasets for women. Two meta-analyses (accounting for the sample sizes and including data of Schild et al. 2020), however, suggest that lower mean F0 might be a valid indicator of higher probability of self-reported infidelity in both men and women.ConclusionsIn line with prior research, higher masculinity, as indicated by lower mean F0, seems to be linked to self-reported infidelity in both men and women. However, given methodological shortcomings, future studies should set out to further delve into these findings.

Οι θεωρίες γύρω από τις διαφυλικές διαφορές στην ερωτική ζήλεια και η αξιοποίηση τους στη Γνωσιακή Συμπεριφοριστική Θεωρία και Πράξη

Romantic jealousy is a commonly experienced complex of feelings, which in its pathological expression leads to personal misery, problematic relations and problems for the partner of the person experiencing it. Research in romantic jealousy has began since the ‘40s, when Alfred Kinsey noted that men tend to be more preoccupied withthe sexual aspect of a partner’s sexual infidelity, whereas women tend to worry most about lost attention, sentimental investment and love from their partner. More recently researchers have attempted to explainthe sexual difference in jealousy as an innate module, through the evolution theory and have attracted the attention of the scientific community, as well as much criticism. Supporters of sociocognitive theories attempt to place jealousy as an innate module in their theory. Cognitive behavioural therapies have started including jealousy as such a module in their case conceptualization of pathological jealousy.

Modelo predictivo de conducta de infidelidad sexual entre personas casadas

La infidelidad marital es relativamente frecuente, a pesar de sus graves consecuencias. Este estudio tiene como objetivo contrastar un modelo predictivo de infidelidad sexual desde una perspectiva psicosocial. Se colectó una muestra de 790 personas casadas (53.4% mujeres y 47.6% hombres) por rutas al azar en Monterrey, México. Se aplicó la Escala de Valoración de la Relación, Índice de Satisfacción Sexual, Escala de Actitud hacia la Exclusividad Marital, Escalas de conducta infiel, Escala de Búsqueda de Sensaciones Sexuales y Escala de Engrandecimiento Marital. El contraste se hizo por análisis de sendero a través del método de mínimos cuadrados ponderados. Seis de cada 100 participantes están insatisfechos con su matrimonio, 13 de cada 100 están insatisfechos con las relaciones sexuales con su pareja y dos de cada diez ven más defectos que virtudes en sus parejas; asimismo, 83 de cada 100 reportan no incurrir en conductas de infidelidad sexual, 60 de cada 100 muestran total rechazo hacia la propia infidelidad sexual, 72 de cada 100 reportan muy bajo nivel de deseo de infidelidad sexual y 50 de cada 100 muy bajo nivel de búsqueda de sensaciones sexuales. El modelo con dos variables exógenas correlacionadas y cinco endógenas mostró una potencia explicativa muy alta y su ajuste a los datos fue bueno. Se concluye que la variable más crítica en el modelo es el deseo de infidelidad sexual, cuyo determinante más importante es la búsqueda de sensaciones sexuales. Esta variable de rasgo se especificó como una variable exógena, por lo que no es explicada. No obstante, puede ser modulada y modificada, ya que es un rasgo de personalidad. Precisamente, la idealización o el menosprecio hacia la pareja la modulan en el modelo. A su vez, el modelo remarca aspectos de insatisfacción marital y sexual.

“Back to Eden”: An explorative qualitative study on traditional medicine use during pregnancy among selected women in Lusaka Province, Zambia

Background and purposeNo qualitative study on traditional medicine use among Zambian pregnant women has ever been conducted. Accordingly, this study was performed to explore the perceptions, motivations and experiences of Zambian women with regard to traditional medicine use during pregnancy. Materials and methodsIn-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted in June/July 2019 with 8 adult women residing in Lusaka, Zambia, who used traditional remedies during their pregnancies, and who were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. ResultsReported reasons behind traditional medicine use during pregnancy included labour induction, prevention of childbirth complications in case of sexual infidelity by either spouse, and prevention and/or treatment of anaemia. In addition, family members and faith leaders played an important role in influencing traditional medicine use. ConclusionMultiple, interconnecting factors influence traditional medicine use among pregnant women in Lusaka, Zambia. Traditional medicine use during pregnancy will likely continue to be widespread across Zambia.

How "dirty" is the Dark Triad? Dark character profiles, swearing, and sociosexuality.

Malevolent character traits (i.e., the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) are associated to emotional frigidity, antagonism, immoral strategic thinking, betrayal, exploitation, and sexual promiscuity. Despite the fact that character is a complex adaptive system, almost every study has solely investigated the linear association between malevolent character and attitudes towards both swearing and sociosexual orientation (i.e., behavior, attitude, and desire regarding promiscuous sexual behavior). In contrast, the aim in this set of studies was to evaluate these associations in relation to specific profiles of malevolent character (i.e., the Dark Cube). In two studies participants responded to the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen, the Taboo Words’ Offensiveness and Usage Inventories (i.e., attitudes towards 30 swear words’ level of offensiveness and usage) (Study 1: N1 = 1,000) and the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory Revised (Study 2: N2 = 309). Participants were clustered according to all eight possible combinations based on their dark trait scores (M/m = high/low Machiavellianism; N/n = high/low narcissism; P/p = high/low psychopathy). The results of this nonlinear approach suggested that the frequent usage, not level of offensiveness, of swear words was associated to Machiavellianism and narcissism. In other words, individuals with high levels in these traits might swear and are verbally offensive often, because they do not see swearing as offensive (cf. with the attitude-behavior-cognition-hypothesis of taboo words; Rosenberg, Sikström & Garcia, 2017). Moreover, promiscuous sociosexual attitude and desire were related to each dark trait only when the other two were low. Additionally, promiscuous sociosexual behavior was not associated to these malevolent character traits. That is, individuals high in the dark traits are willing to and have the desire to engage in sexual relations without closeness, commitment, and other indicators of emotional bonding. However, they do not report high levels of previous sexual experience, relationships, and infidelity. Hence, they approve and desire for it, but they are not actually doing it. The use of person-centered and non-linear methods, such as the Dark Character Cube, seem helpful in the advancement of a coherent theory of a biopsychosocial model of dark character.

Impact of Sexual Jealousy on Partner Infidelity among University Students: Gender as Moderator

This research was aimed to examine the moderating role of gender on the impact of sexual jealousy on partner infidelity among university students. For the purpose, a sample of 352 students were recruited through simple random sampling technique from four cities (Bahawalpur, Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi) of Punjab, Pakistan. Respondents were given two questionnaires; Interpersonal Jealousy Scale and Infidelity Questionnaire. After data collection, results were analysed through SmartPLS (3.0) for moderation model. The results showed that sexual jealousy had significant positive impact showing 59% variance on partner infidelity, whereas, gender was found to be a significant moderator between sexual jealousy and partner infidelity (R2= 0.594, t= 2.403, p<.01). The results of this research are discussed in detail with limitations and future suggestions for the future researches related to impact of sexual jealousy on partner infidelity.

Why, and to What Extent, Is Sexual Infidelity Wrong?

AbstractSexual infidelity is widespread, but it is also widely condemned, yet relatively little philosophical work has been done on what makes it wrong and how wrong it is. In this paper, I argue that sexual infidelity is wrong if it involves breaking a commitment to be sexually exclusive, which has special significance in the relationship. However, it is not necessarily worse than other kinds of infidelity, and the context in which it takes place ought to be considered. I finish the paper by looking at how the hegemonic norm of monogamy makes infidelity both more likely and more difficult to deal with.

Tort Tales, Gold Diggers, and the Crusade against Heart Balm

Beginning in the early 1930s, US citizens made a concerted effort to ban lawsuits for breach of promise, seduction, criminal conversation, and alienation of affection. By 1940, ten states had outlawed so-called heart balm torts. Yet there is no empirical evidence that rates of heart balm lawsuits were increasing. This article analyzes 1930s media representations to show how the movement against heart balm grew from “tort tales” about allegedly outrageous lawsuits. Heart balm narratives drew from stylized representations of “gold diggers” found in popular culture, and they reflected divisions around gender and social class exacerbated by the Great Depression.

Sexual Infidelity as an Attachment Injury in Iranian Women: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT Sexual infidelity can have a devastating impact on the couple’s relationship, as well as the individual’s life. Studies shows that many Iranian couples ask for divorce after experiencing sexual infidelity. This qualitative study explores the effects of sexual infidelity on Iranian attachment injured women asking for divorce. In this cultural study, 32 women with betrayal experience were interviewed. All interviews were transcribed word by word and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results show the impacts of sexual betrayal, as an attachment injury, can be classified into four themes including 1) sexual relationships, 2) emotional effects, 3) cognitive effects and 4) behavioral effects. It has been demonstrated that attachment injury caused by infidelity damages the cultural foundation of mutual trust within partners. Infidelity as an attachment injury is also discussed.

An Ugly Slander to Prophet Muḥammad: Assimilating His Marriage with Zaynab b. Jaḥsh to Prophet David and Bathsheba’s Marriage

An Ugly Slander to Prophet Muḥammad: Assimilating His Marriage with Zaynab b. Jaḥsh to Prophet David and Bathsheba’s Marriage