Detecting Infidelity
- PDF / 111,737 Bytes
- 2 Pages / 504.567 x 720 pts Page_size
- 23 Downloads / 255 Views
Detecting Infidelity Nicholas J. Moore and Joseph A. Camilleri Westfield State University, Westfield, MA, USA
Infidelity refers to a violation of sexual or emotional exclusivity within a pair-bond. Emotional infidelity is when a person allocates their time, love, and attention to someone other than their significant other, whereas sexual infidelity is when a person engages in sexual activity with someone other than their significant other (Shackelford and Buss 1997). Infidelity is a universal behavior, occurring in all known cultures and times. In the United States, marital infidelity estimates vary from 26% to 70% for women and 33% to 75% for men (reviewed in Shackelford and Buss 1997). Though infidelity may have reproductive benefits (e.g., increase men’s reproductive success by increasing the number of mateships), infidelity is associated with various negative outcomes. Women’s sexual infidelity is costly to men due to cuckoldry (i.e., raising non-genetically related offspring) or possible loss of a mating partner to a rival, whereas men’s emotional infidelity is costly to women due to loss of parental investment (i.e., time and resources that are redirected to a rival). Infidelity and jealousy are also implicated in many cases of intimate partner violence. Due to the steep costs of infidelity, the ability to detect such acts or risks of such acts may have evolved.
Both men and women appear to be sensitive to cues of infidelity. Men more often recall cues signaling their mates’ sexual infidelity whereas women more often recall cues regarding emotional infidelity (Schützwohl and Koch 2004). Shackelford and Buss (1997) identified 170 cues to emotional and sexual infidelity that loaded onto 14 factors. These factors were: (1) angry, critical, argumentative of partner; (2) sexual infidelity revealed; (3) changes in normal routine and sexual behavior with partner; (4) apathetic toward partner; (5) increased sexual interest/exaggerated affection toward partner; (6) sexual disinterest/ boredom with partner; (7) relationship dissatisfaction; (8) passive rejection of partner; (9) reluctance to discuss a certain person; (10) reluctance to spend time with partner; (11) increased reference to and time spent with another person; (12) acting guilty, anxious toward partner; (13) physical signs of sexual infidelity; (14) emotional disengagement from partner. Shackelford and Buss identified some interesting patterns with these cues to infidelity. Participants rated some of these factors as more diagnostic of sexual infidelity, such as sexual boredom, whereas other factors were rated as more diagnostic of emotional infidelity, such as relationship dissatisfaction. These cues are more likely to be considered a cue to infidelity when applying that cue to members of the opposite sex, suggesting the presence of a cognitive bias to perceive acts as signs of infidelity when it is performed by members of the opposite sex.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 T. K. Shackelford, V. A. Weekes-Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science,
Data Loading...
