Cheating in relationships is a subject that often times inflicts emotion in those who encounter this situation. Male and female college students can have different outlooks in situations, so what is considered cheating in relationships would make no difference, and those who are from different age groups often times see things differently, with the younger you are the more radically the thinking style with the style being less so as a person ages. In order to determine if the statements are true a survey of seven questions was conducted to determine what age group considered to be cheating. The reality, results, is male and female college students agree for the most part what is considered cheating within a relationship, and it goes with age as well.
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Cheating in Relationships
Relationships are complex. As we go through our lives we encounter many different kinds of relationships. The most complex relationship perhaps is our romantic relationships. In most relationships where there is commitment of only being with your partner, most would expect their partner and their partner would expect them to stay faithful. What does a partner in a relationship have to do in order to be considered faithful to their partner? Is there a difference in every relationship on what each person considers to be cheating within the relationship, or is the expectations more similar? Do males and females have different options on what is cheating in relationships?
The Cheating Heart: Scientific Explorations of Infidelity by Drigotas attempts to figure out why a person decides to cheat or have an affair on the partner. Through Drigotas study he define infidelity “in the context of a dynamic relationship, represents a partner’s violation of norms regulating of the emotional or physical intimacy with people outside the relationship”.
Cheating within in the relationship has lasting effects within the relationship itself, which could affect those around them if there is a child involved. Even if we personally do not know someone who has dealt with cheating within a relationship, we more than likely have watch such a situation take place in a movie, or television show. We have more than likely been in contact with this situation through reading books, magazines, or news paper articles, stories. Since there are many situations in which person maybe in contact with the situation causes many people to wonder about what others may consider cheating. Often times this conversation is spoken between partners’ to discuss the boundaries within their own relationship. (McAnulty, R. M., 2007).
Method
Participants
The participants were forty students from Willow International Community College. There were twenty males and twenty females that participated. Of the twenty males ten were of the ages between eighteen and twenty-four, and the other ten were of the age of twenty-five and plus. Of the twenty females ten were of the ages between eighteen and twenty-four, and the other ten were of the age of twenty-five and plus.
Materials
A seven item questionnaire was used.
Procedure
I recruited participants from the Willow International Community College using the following script: Hi my name is Ashley, and I am doing a research project for my psychology. I have created a seven item questionnaire in regards to cheating in relationships. This survey is one hundred percent anonymous, and will take no more than three minutes of your time. Would you like to take the survey?
Once the participants agreed to take the survey they read cheating in a relationship consists of, and then they were to finish the sentence by circling, all statements they agreed with, from a list consisting of nine different options (sexual contact, sexual intercourse, oral sex, flirting, sextenting [defined as exchanging sexual messages and or photos with someone over the internet or phone], watching pornography, kissing, emotional [defined as sharing information that should only be spoken to your partner with someone else], and video chatting with no sexual content but without partner’s knowledge: skype, webcam, facebooking, etc. and there was also a space for a write in if they found a statement that was not part of the options already listed. The survey asked the gender and age, if they were single or in a relationship, and if they have ever been cheated on, and have you ever cheated on someone.
Results
The results were broken down into five different categories: (1) males and females all ages and what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship, (2) females in the different age groups eighteen to twenty-four, and twenty-five and plus with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship, (3) males in the different age groups eighteen to twenty-four, and twenty-five and plus with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship, (4) males and females from the age group eighteen to twenty-four with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship, and (5) males and females from the age group twenty-five and plus with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship. After looking over all of the surveys I found that one male and one female over the age of twenty-five did not circle any of the options nor did they write down to what they considered to be cheating in a relationship.
Males and females all ages eighteen to twenty-four and twenty-five and plus, with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship.
Males
Females
sexual contact
19
19
sexual intercourse
18
19
oral sex
18
19
flirting
4
7
sexting
18
19
watching pornography
2
2
kissing
17
19
emotional
5
11
video chatting
4
12
lying/sneaking around
0
1
watching pornography alone
0
1
dirty dancing
0
1
telling another person you love them in a romantic manner
1
0
Females in the different age groups eighteen to twenty-four, and twenty-five and plus with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship.
25+
18-24
sexual contact
9
10
sexual intercourse
9
10
oral sex
9
10
flirting
6
1
sexting
9
10
watching pornography
2
0
kissing
9
10
emotional
7
4
video chatting
9
3
lying/sneaking around
0
1
watching pornography alone
1
0
dirty dancing
1
0
Males in the different age groups eighteen to twenty-four, and twenty-five and plus with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship.
26+ years
18-24 years
sexual contact
9
10
sexual intercourse
8
10
oral sex
8
10
flirting
3
1
sexting
8
10
watching pornography
2
0
emotional
3
2
video chatting
4
0
kissing
8
9
telling another person you love them in a romantic manner
0
1
Males and females from the age group eighteen to twenty-four with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship.
males
females
sexual contact
10
10
sexual intercourse
10
10
oral sex
10
10
flirting
1
1
sexting
10
10
watching pornography
0
0
kissing
9
10
emotional
2
4
video chatting
0
3
lying/sneaking around
0
1
watching pornography alone
0
0
dirty dancing
0
0
telling another person you love them in a romantic manner
0
0
Males and females from the age group twenty-five and plus with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship.
males
females
sexual contact
9
9
sexual intercourse
8
9
oral sex
8
9
flirting
3
6
sexting
8
9
watching pornography
2
2
kissing
8
9
emotional
3
7
video chatting
4
9
lying/sneaking around
0
0
watching pornography alone
0
1
dirty dancing
0
1
telling another person you love them in a romantic manner
0
0
Discussion
Males and females all ages eighteen to twenty-four and twenty-five and plus, with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship.
The results came out to males and females agree for the most part on what consists of cheating in a relationship. The major difference between what males and females agree on what consists of cheating is in the categories of emotional cheating and video chatting with no sexual content, but without your partner’s knowledge. Only four out of forty males agreed video chatting with no sexual content, but without your partner’s knowledge was cheating, while twelve out forty females agreed this was cheating. Only five out of forty males agreed emotional was cheating on your partner in a relationship, while eleven out of forty females agreed this was cheating on your partner.
Females in the different age groups eighteen to twenty-four, and twenty-five and plus with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship.
The results show females of both age groups agree for the most part of what consists of cheating in a relationship. The older the age group the more females agree with the listing of choices in what is considered cheating in a relationship.
Males in the different age groups eighteen to twenty-four, and twenty-five and plus with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship.
The results show that males of the different age groups agree for the most part on what is considered to be cheating in relationships. The results show that the older the male gets the more he considers these circumstances to be cheating in a relationship.
Males and females from the age group eighteen to twenty-four with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship.
The results show that males and females between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four agree on what is considered to be cheating in relationships.
Males and females from the age group twenty-five and plus with what they thought consisted of cheating while in a relationship.
The results show that for the most part males and females twenty-five and plus in agree with what is considered cheating in relationships.
For continued research I would like to find out if there makes a difference if they are married, single, or in a relationship. I would like to elaborate on the research of Knox, D. where he asks if college men cheat more in relationships. I would to find out if males really do cheat more than females, and does sexual orientation make a difference, does being married lower the chance of infidelity in the research, and do males cheat more using sexual ways, while female use more emotional ways of cheating, or is there no difference. Do research to find out if it makes the more you have been a witness to cheating in a relationship if a person is more or less likely to agree with the statements listed as cheating in a relationship. Do research to find out if the more you agree with the statements the more or less likely you are to treat on your partner.
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In the study titled Sociosexual Orientation, Commitment, and Infidelity: A Mediation Analysis by Mattingly, B writes about the importance of finding out what causes a person to seek other people outside of their own partner, and how it is their own beliefs, experiences, and level of commitment determines if a person is going to seek others when in a relationship.
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