Sexual Infidelity Among Married and Cohabiting Americans
Abstract
Virtually all American couples, married or cohabiting, expect sexual exclusivity of one another. This article asks why some people are sexually exclusive while others have sex with someone besides their mate. Previous research has linked personal values, sexual opportunities, and quality of the marital relationship to extramartial sex. This paper integrates these findings in a multivariate model that incorporates factors informing sexual decision making as well as demographic “risk factors.” Nationally representative survey data show higher likelihood of sexual infidelity among those with stronger sexual interests, more permissive sexual values, lower subjective satisfaction with their union, weaker network ties to partner, and greater sexual opportunities. With these factors controlled, gender differences are substantially reduced or eliminated, although racial effects persist.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Men and women with stronger sexual interest levels have an increased likelihood of sexual infidelity.
“For instance, Treas and Giesen found an increased likelihood of sexual infidelity among men and women with stronger sexual interest levels [78].”
From Love and Infidelity: Causes and Consequences (2023) · cites this paper as [78]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Infidelity in romantic relationships
Fincham, F. D., & May, R. W. (2017) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.03.008 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
Is infidelity a cause or a consequence of poor marital quality?
Previti, D., & Amato, P. R. (2004) · Journal of Social and Personal Relationships · doi:10.1177/0265407504041384 · Cited by 260 · see citing works
Mark, K. P., Janssen, E., & Milhausen, R. R. (2011) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-011-9771-z · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Are there religious variations in marital infidelity?
Burdette, A. M., Ellison, C. G., Sherkat, D. E., & Gore, K. A. (2007) · Journal of Family Issues · doi:10.1177/0192513x07304269 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Predicting sexual infidelity in a population-based sample of married individuals.
Whisman, M. A., Gordon, K. C., & Chatav, Y. (2007) · Journal of Family Psychology · doi:10.1037/0893-3200.21.2.320 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
Hypersexuality: A Critical Review and Introduction to the “Sexhavior Cycle”
Walton, M. T., Cantor, J. M., Bhullar, N., & Lykins, A. D. (2017) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-017-0991-8 · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Allen, E. S., Atkins, D. C., Baucom, D. H., Snyder, D. K., Gordon, K. C., & Glass, S. P. (2005) · Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice · doi:10.1093/clipsy.bpi014 · Cited by 284 · see citing works
Neuroenhancement of love and marriage: the chemicals between us.
Savulescu, J., & Sandberg, A. (2008) · Neuroethics · doi:10.1007/s12152-007-9002-4 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Predictors of Extradyadic Sexual Involvement in Unmarried Opposite-Sex Relationships
Maddox Shaw, A. M., Rhoades, G. K., Allen, E. S., Stanley, S. M., & Markman, H. J. (2013) · Journal of Sex Research · doi:10.1080/00224499.2012.666816 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Understanding infidelity: Correlates in a national random sample.
Atkins, D. C., Baucom, D. H., & Jacobson, N. S. (2001) · Journal of Family Psychology · doi:10.1037/0893-3200.15.4.735 · Cited by 458 · see citing works
Love and Infidelity: Causes and Consequences
Rokach, A., & Chan, S. H. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20053904 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
“For instance, Treas and Giesen found an increased likelihood of sexual infidelity among men and women with stronger sexual interest levels [78].”
BackgroundThe aftershocks of infidelity: a review of infidelity-based attachment trauma
Warach, B., & Josephs, L. (2021) · Sexual and Relationship Therapy · doi:10.1080/14681994.2019.1577961 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
A prototype analysis of infidelity
WEISER, D. A., LALASZ, C. B., WEIGEL, D. J., & EVANS, W. P. (2014) · Personal Relationships · doi:10.1111/pere.12056 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Extramarital Sex and Marital Dissolution: Does Identity of the Extramarital Partner Matter?
Labrecque, L. T., & Whisman, M. A. (2020) · Family Process · doi:10.1111/famp.12472 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
The role of attachment avoidance in extradyadic sex
Beaulieu-Pelletier, G., Philippe, F. L., Lecours, S., & Couture, S. (2011) · Attachment & Human Development · doi:10.1080/14616734.2011.562419 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Longmore, M. A., Manning, W. D., Copp, J. E., & Giordano, P. C. (2016) · Emerging Adulthood · doi:10.1177/2167696816631098 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
A Socio‐Emotional Relational Framework for Infidelity: The Relational Justice Approach
Williams, K. (2011) · Family Process · doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.2011.01374.x · Cited by 32 · see citing works
- Authors
- Treas, J., & Giesen, D.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Venue
- Journal of Marriage and Family
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2000-02
- Volume
- 62
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 48-60
- ISSN
- 0022-2445 (ISSN-L)
- 1741-3737
- OpenAlex
- W2035295164
- Cited by
- 503
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 18.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Marriage and the Family (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Marriage and Sexual Relationships
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Keywords
- sexual infidelity, adultery, sexual exclusivity, married couples, cohabiting couples, sexual values, marital satisfaction, network ties, gender differences, racial differences, sexual decision-making
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
