Social representations of infidelity among married and unmarried men and women
The goal of this research is to examine the specificity of social representations of infidelity among married and unmarried men and women. The hypothesis was advanced that married and unmarried men and women differ in their perception of infidelity. The differences depend on the gender and marital status, and pertain to definition of this concept and the underlying causes. The article employs the methods of questionnaire, content analysis, and the developed by the authors projective technique “draw infidelity”. It was established that the respondents view infidelity from two perspectives: those who commit adultery (more typical to men), and those against whom adultery was committed (more typical to women). Married individuals more often describe their own infidelity, while unmarried persons describe the infidelity of another partner. The main cause infidelity for men are new sensations (new sexual experience, etc.), while women it is love for another person (strong emotional experiences). Married respondents describe infidelity as a rare, tough, and long-term phenomenon. Unmarried respondents consider infidelity a rather frequent phenomenon that gives new experience in relationships. Women view infidelity as an emotional, passionate, and unique phenomenon. Men tend to assess infidelity as an indifferent, typical, and rational event. The acquired data can be used in family counseling on the problems of infidelity, as well as in psychological counseling overall. The results can also be used in psychoprophylactic work with youth on the question of family and marriage.