Romantic Hypocrisy: Perceiving and Practicing Infidelity |
The Challenges of Infidelity
Take our Relationship Satisfaction Test
Find a therapist for infidelity near me
People judge the behavior of others more severely than their own behavior, exhibiting actor-observer bias.
There is a tendency to downplay one's own behavior but not that of others.
Partners view sexual behavior differently when the intent is ambiguous.
Infidelity is a significant threat within exclusive romantic relationships that, in many cases, can lead to dissolution. But how do you define it? Most couples would agree there are definite examples of cheating, and then there is the grey area. Text messages, browsing singles websites, and expressing interest in (attractive) others are examples of behaviors that might be viewed as ambiguous in terms of interest and intent. The significance of interpretation is important within romantic relationships, considering the potential for misunderstanding. Research explains.
Researchers Ashley E. Thompson and Lucia F. O’Sullivan examined the way partners engage in inconsistent explanations of infidelity in a piece aptly entitled “I Can But You Can’t.”[i] Using online surveys with 810 adult participants, they compared opinions about infidelity given by participants regarding their own behavior and the behavior of their partners. People judged........