2012 m. lapkričio 20 d., antradienis

Psychology of infidelity



Infidelity is breaking a promise to remain faithful to a partner. The probability of someone cheating during the course of a relationship varies between 40 and 76 percent. Why people cheat on their partner? Not long ago, this would have seemed an easy problem to researchers. For women, the main benefit of infidelity was better genes for her offspring with the ancillary benefit of gifts provided by lovers. For a man, the advantage was simply spreading his genes around or siring more children.
People, who are cheating explain 3 reasons of cheating. 1-st reason is that they felt their marriage was sexually satisfying, or they wished to have more sex than they were having now. The next two reasons reflect emotional needs. Participants reported that they weren’t emotionally satisfied in their current relationship or wished to gain additional emotional connection or validation.  The least frequent reasons for engaging in affairs had to do with love- either falling out of love with their partner or falling in love with the new partner. This is might basic reasons, but there’re other reasons which aren’t less important. One was “revenge sex.”  People seeking an affair for this reason were trying to get back at their own partners who had already cheated on them. This seems understandable. Also the researchers were surprised to find that nearly 20% of the married people in the sample were into "sensation seeking," meaning they were curious or just bored.  It can be the desire for sexual variety, and attraction to younger women or men or long distance between partners.
Now we know why people engaged in affairs, but the question is - how did they feel once they were in them? As it turns out, the participants felt the full gamut from positive to negative emotions. On the positive side, people who cheated for sexual reasons tended to be emotionally satisfied with the outcome. They also felt more energetic about life in general and felt that they were becoming emotionally more open. The price they paid for feeling more alive and open were guilt, shame, and disappointment.  The unfaithful weren’t disappointed with themselves, but with the partners and with the fact that the affair didn’t bring them as much satisfaction as they thought it would. Anxiety over being caught, fear of abandonment by the extra-marital partner, jealousy, and depression were other undesirable emotions.  However, a surprising number of participants said they felt no negative emotions at all.
Clues to Your Partner's Future Infidelity. Your husband or wife has begun keeping secrets. If he walks into another room while on the phone, or shuts down the computer monitor. Arguments flare up for no apparent reason. When your mate gets angrier than is warranted, there is often something else going on under the surface issue. That anger and the argument itself may be a way of making it "obvious" that YOU are the problem in this relationship. Your mate still believes in magic and soul-mates.  Some men and women, though, persist in thinking that what they actually have is second-best, and that "the one" is still out there. Your mate has forgotten your early starry-eyed history together. You bring up a thrilling date, some beloved memory or other, and he/she can't recall it. Such glowing memories cause cognitive dissonance in the unhappy present, so they are put deeply away. Your partner avoids your family members, because he or she feels shame.

In conclusions, I want give some tips how to prevent infidelity.

1.      Do not keep secrets from your partner. Talking improves your relationship. You shouldn’t hide or lie about something you’re ashamed or think that it’ll be unpleasant for your partner. If you disagree with partner’s ideas, you should tell him/her and never be angry on him/ her because he/she thinks different. Try to explain your toughs and find compromise.

2.      Make some rules. May be it sounds that there is no freedom left, but it isn’t like it looks. Some things, which you do  looks normal for you and you think that there is no big deal, but in your partner opinion it looks awful thing and also you think that some aspects of his/ her behavior are inappropriate too. For example she likes call her boyfriend darling, but for some reasons he hates when somebody calls him like this. This is why partner need to make some rules.

3.      Don’t forget to pamper yourself. Buy a new dress or suit, make special makeover or shave your beard. Don’t be scruff.

4.      Avoid routine. It looks quite difficult and it is, but you can start from the simplest things. For example, try to wash dishes together. It shouldn’t be just housework, it can be funny activity. Go on a date once a year, or do something spontaneous together. You will never be bored together.

 

Picture references: http://www.etiketogidas.lt/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/geliu-dovanojimas.jpg

http://scottpsychologicalservice.typepad.com/.a/6a00e554e7f95e88330134880bb85e970c-800wi

http://www.mentalhelp.net/images/root/infidelity_stockxpertcom_id18389421_size01.JPG


Literature references: http://www.psychologytoday.com/search/query?keys=infidelity&x=0&y=0

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