Avoidant Attachment and Sexual Infidelity Over Time - Essay Example

Participants who dropped out after Time 1 reported higher levels of avoidant attachment.

Materials

• 12-item short form of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale
• nine-item Infi-delity scale

Results

Avoidant attachment predicted increases in infidelity over time

Current Investigation: Study 4

Hypothesis:

Avoidant Attachment and Sexual Infidelity Over Time

Materials

• ERC scale

Results

Avoidant attachment predicted increases in infidelity over time

Current Investigation: Study 5

Hypothesis:

Avoidant Attachment and Daily Desire to Meet Alternatives

Method

Involved 51 heterosexual undergraduate couples involved in a committed relationship for 1 month. Data from 50 couples were analyzed. Multilevel modeling techniques were used to account for statistical non-independence. All variables were standardized prior to analyses

 Materials

• ECR Scale
• Anxious attachment subscale

Results

• The avoidant attachment was associated with a greater daily desire to meet alternatives
• The anxious attachment was unrelated to daily desire to meet alternatives

Current Investigation: Study 6

Hypothesis:

Low Commitment Mediates the Link between Avoidant Attachment and Interest in Alternative

Method

109 heterosexuals participated among the 390 participants. They constituted undergraduate student samples and married couples samples. They completed a five-item measure of their perceptions of the potential alternatives to their relationship, a seven-item measure of their commitment to their relationship partner, and completed the ECR scale.

Materials

ECR scale

Results

• the avoidant attachment was associated with greater interest in alternatives
• The anxious attachment was unrelated to interest in alternatives

Current Investigation: Study 7

Hypothesis:

Commitment Mediates the Relationship between Avoidant Attachment and Infidelity

Over Time

Method

460 participants in exclusive romantic relationships participated. The individuals who dropped out were compared with those who completed the Time 2 measures.

Materials

• ECR scale
• Dedication subscale

Results

Avoidant attachment predicted increases in infidelity over time

Current Investigation: Study 8

Hypothesis:

Commitment Mediates the Relationship Between Avoidant Attachment and Sexual Infidelity

Over Time

Method

462 undergraduates participated in the study. Those who dropped out were compared with those that completed.

Materials

• ECR scale
• Dedication subscale

Results

• Avoidant attachment predicted increases in infidelity over time
• Anxious attachment did not predict changes in sexual infidelity

Summaries of General Discussion, Limitations, and Future Directions

People in exclusive relationships can be understood to have one partner. However, alternatives to an individual’s relationship partner sometimes occur. This can be resisted through a commitment to one’s partner. The limitations of this study include failure to measure how participants in study 3,4,7,8 were satisfied with the extradyadic behaviors they involved. As a future direction in this study, there should be investigated a relationship between avoidance attachment and alternatives or desires for extradyadic behavior in romantic relationships

Discussion questions

What are the extraneous factors that influence the level of romantic commitment among couples?

What are the critical social aspects of marital relationships that facilitate infidelity?