Infidelity and Attachment Styles

Abstract

Literature points to differing responses among women and men regarding sexual and emotional infidelity. Inview of limited research regarding gender responses to infidelity within the context of attachment styles, theresearch study investigated whether there were significant difference in the way women and men responded tosexual and emotional infidelity. It also sought to determine whether attachment styles affected genderdifferences.. The sample population consisted of 300staff employed at a university in South Africa, of which 81were male and 219 were female. The voluntary online monkey survey required respondents to provideinformation focusing on demographics, attachment styles and sexual orientation. Following this, sexual andemotional cases were presented for participants to rate each case. Participants then made a binary choice, ofwhich scenario upset them most.The findings showed that men found sexual infidelity most upsetting, whileemotional infidelity was found most upsetting for women. Further, results indicated that men found sexualinfidelity most upsetting within the fearful and secure attachment style, with scores much higher than women inthe categories of fearful and secure attachment style. On the other hand, women found emotional infidelity mostupsetting within the fearful and secure attachment style, with scores much higher than men in the categories offearful and secure attachment style. However, both men and women found sexual infidelity to be most upsettingwith the preoccupied and dismissive attachment style. The research findings showed that there were differencesin the responses of the male and female gender tosexual and emotional infidelity. This supports the theory ofevolutionary sex differences and provides an opportunity to augment further intense and rigorous debate onevolutionary approaches.In view of these findings, the study proposed greater empirical and theoretical studiesin the area of sexual and emotional infidelity within cultural contexts.