What is infidelity? Perceptions based on biological sex and personality

Abstract

Victoria Thornton, Alexander NagurneyTexas State University – San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas, USAAbstract: The study examines perceptions of infidelity, paying particular attention to how these perceptions differ based on biological sex and personality traits, specifically agency and communion and their unmitigated counterparts. The study utilizes a sample of 125 male and 233 female college students. In addition to the personality measures, participants completed a 19-item checklist that assessed their perceptions of specific items that could potentially be construed as infidelity. It was hypothesized that females would construe more items as infidelity than would males. It was also predicted that unmitigated communion and communion would be positively correlated with these perceptions and that unmitigated agency would be negatively correlated with these perceptions. No correlation was predicted between agency and infidelity. All hypotheses were supported. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.Keywords: infidelity, communion, agency, questionnaire, relationship