Emotional reactions to infidelity

TLDR

The study discusses limitations and calls for an integrative theory of emotional reactions to infidelity. The study aimed to identify emotional reactions to a partner's sexual and emotional infidelity. The authors collected emotion nominations from 53 participants, had 655 participants rate the likelihood of each emotion after sexual or emotional infidelity, and analyzed 15 emotion components with repeated measures ANOVA using sex and infidelity type as factors. Principal components analysis yielded 15 emotion components, with sex differences in nine components (men higher on Homicidal/Suicidal, women higher on Undesirable/Insecure) and infidelity type differences in twelve components (sexual infidelity more likely to elicit Nauseated/Repulsed, emotional infidelity more likely to elicit Undesirable/Insecure).

Abstract

We sought to identify emotional reactions to a partner's sexual infidelity and emotional infidelity. In a preliminary study, 53 participants nominated emotional reactions to a partner's sexual and emotional infidelity. In a second study, 655 participants rated each emotion for how likely it was to occur following sexual and emotional infidelity. Principal components analysis revealed 15 emotion components, including Hostile/Vengeful, Depressed, and Sexually aroused. We conducted repeated measures analyses of variance on the 15 components, with participant sex as the between-subjects factor and infidelity type as the within-subjects factor. A main effect for sex obtained for 9 components. For example, men scored higher on Homicidal/Suicidal, whereas women scored higher on Undesirable/Insecure. A main effect for infidelity type obtained for 12 components. For example, participants endorsed Nauseated/Repulsed as more likely to follow sexual infidelity and Undesirable/Insecure as more likely to follow emotional infidelity. Discussion addresses limitations of this research, and highlights the need for an integrative theory of emotional reactions to infidelity.