Cheating can be a coping mechanism for individual problems or the expression of individual desires and needs, or it can occur as a reaction to relationship problems, but it is important to note that cheating can manifest itself not only in problematic relationships, but also in relationships that are going well.
The fact that there are many studies establishing a relationship between marital dissatisfaction and infidelity suggests that this concept is a primary risk factor in infidelity. However, relationship dissatisfaction may be the cause or the result of cheating.
Thompson (1983) states that dissatisfaction with marriage and sexuality; It has been revealed that it is strongly associated with extramarital affairs when combined with other negative factors such as feeling lonely in marriage, the need for emotional freedom, alienation, the presence of people in the environment who have extramarital affairs, and separating sexuality and love. Similarly, another study by Atkins et al. found that relationship satisfaction strongly predicted infidelity. The results of the study showed that participants who chose the "not very happy" option in their marriage were four times more likely to cheat than those who rated themselves "very happy" in their relationship, and participants who chose the "fairly happy" option were twice as likely to cheat compared to participants who chose the "very happy" option.
Glass and Wright (1985) discussed the relationship between infidelity and marital dissatisfaction in terms of gender and found in their study that women who had extramarital affairs experienced more dissatisfaction in their marriages compared to men. According to the results of the same study, while the desire to achieve greater emotional satisfaction in their relationship is a motivating reason for women, sexuality seems to be more motivating for men than marital dissatisfaction. The cited study results seem to support the idea of the existence of a relationship between marital dissatisfaction and infidelity.
In a study conducted on variables that predict sexual infidelity in married individuals, marriage satisfaction and sociodemographic variables were found to be highly associated with sexual infidelity; It has also been shown that neurotic personality structure, religious belief and pregnancy variables have the power to predict sexual infidelity.
In addition to the factors mentioned above, environmental factors such as ease and diversity in access to other people are also revealed. It is among the risk factors in cheating. There are researchers who explain the inequality between men and women in cheating rates on this basis and argue that men have a higher potential for cheating due to their historical involvement in business life and contact with more people due to work compared to women. In recent years, women have become more likely to cheat in business life. The decrease in the gender gap in cheating rates, which may be due to increased coverage, also seems to support the idea that access to other people may have an impact on cheating. Some extramarital affairs may be strongly associated with significant psychiatric disorders, personality disorders, or paraphilias. For example, disorders such as hypomania, cocaine addiction, psychopathic personality, exhibitionism challenge people's capacity to remain loyal, patience and responsibility.
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