Spousal Disclosure of Extramarital Relationships: Attitudes of Marriage and Family Therapists

Abstract

This article presents attitudes of clinical members of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (N = 332) toward spousal disclosure of extramarital relationships. A survey was developed in which an affair was defined as a sexual and emotional secretive relationship occurring concurrent to a committed, cohabiting relationship. Therapist demographic variables that were found to have a significant relationship with attitudes toward affair disclosure were age and level of graduate degree. A large number of narrative comments from participant reactions to survey questions are included, along with further findings and suggestions for educators of marriage and family therapists.