The Gray Area: Exploring Attitudes Toward Infidelity and the Development of the Perceptions of Dating Infidelity Scale

Was That Cheating? Perceptions Vary by Sex, Attachment Anxiety, and Behavior

“…Sexual intercourse with someone other than a long-term partner in the context of a nominally monogamous relationship may be readily identified as cheating. However, there is far less agreement for ambiguous behaviors that could be considered either as signs of mere friendship or as signaling deeper sexual or romantic interest (Feldman and Cauffman, 1999;Mattingly, Clark, Weidler, and Bequette, 2011;Weis and Felton, 1987;Yarab, Sensibaugh, and Allgeier, 1998).…”

Sociosexuality, Commitment, Sexual Infidelity, and Perceptions of Infidelity: Data From the Second Love Web Site

“…Broadly, behaviors associated with infidelity can range from flirting to sexual intercourse (Roscoe, Cavanaugh, & Kennedy, 1988) and can be categorized into three categories: (a) ambiguous behaviors, such as talking on the Internet or hugging another person; (b) explicit behaviors, such as sexual intercourse or oral sex; and (c) deceptive behaviors, such as lying to, or withholding information from, the partner (Mattingly et al, 2010;Wilson et al, 2011). Ambiguous behaviors are perceived as the least indicative of infidelity, deceptive behaviors as moderately indicative of infidelity and explicit behaviors as the most indicative of infidelity (Feldman & Cauffman, 1999;Wilson et al, 2011).…”

“…Ambiguous behaviors are perceived as the least indicative of infidelity, deceptive behaviors as moderately indicative of infidelity and explicit behaviors as the most indicative of infidelity (Feldman & Cauffman, 1999;Wilson et al, 2011).…”

“…Research on infidelity traditionally focus on its correlates and predictors, reactions to infidelity and consequences for the relationship (McAnulty & Brineman, 2007;Shaw, Rhoades, Allen, Stanley, & Markman, 2013). More recently, research started to focus on which behaviors are perceived as infidelity (Mattingly, Wilson, Clark, Bequette, & Weidler, 2010;Wilson, Mattingly, Clark, Weidler, & Bequette, 2011). Although individuals in relationships generally disapprove infidelity, acts of infidelity are somewhat prevalent (Hall & Fincham, 2009;Jackman, 2015).…”

“We Agree and Now Everything Goes My Way”: Consensual Sexual Nonmonogamy, Extradyadic Sex, and Relationship Satisfaction

“…Two items from the original measure 47,15 assess the extent to which individuals perceive deceptive behaviors as indicative of infidelity (two items; α = .75, e.g., "Lying to one's partner"). Responses are given on 7-point scales (1…”