Pushing the Wrong Buttons: Men's and Women's Attitudes toward Online and Offline Infidelity

Abstract

Pushing the wrong buttons 2 2 ABSTRACT Despite current researchers' interest in the study of online sexual addiction, there is a dearth of research available on what constitutes online infidelity. This paper attempts to redress this balance by comparing 1117 participants' attitudes toward online and offline acts of infidelity. A factor analysis was carried out which yielded three components of infidelity: sexual infidelity, emotional infidelity and pornography.More importantly, this study revealed that online acts of betrayal do not fall into a discrete category of their own. A MANOVA was performed and revealed a statistically significant difference on the combined dependent variables for the interaction of gender by age, age by relationship status and Internet sexual experience.The hypotheses were, in part, supported. However, counter to what was predicted, in the main younger people were more likely to rate sexual acts as acts of betrayal than older individuals. It is concluded here that individuals do perceive some online interactions to be acts of betrayal. In contrast to some researchers' claims, it is suggested here that we do need to consider how bodies are reconstructed online.Moreover, these results have important implications for any treatment rationale for infidelity (both online and offline).

Netiquette within married couples: Agreement about acceptable online behavior and surveillance between partners

“…Parker and Wampler's (2003) study, which considered sexual online activities, found that women viewed these activities more seriously than men did. Whitty's (2003a) study further found that overall women were more likely than men to believe that online sexual acts were an act of betrayal. In this current study we were also interested in examining what types of online behaviors men and women considered to be inappropriate.…”

“…Previous research found that individuals typically regard online acts of infidelity as significant as offline acts of infidelity (Mileham, 2007;Parker & Wampler, 2003;Whitty 2003aWhitty , 2005Whitty & Quigley, in press). Hence, it makes sense that in the majority of couples in our study both partners said that they would be unhappy if their partner was engaging in such activities online.…”

“…An alternative explanation may be that men approve of their partners viewing pornography more than women do because they see this differently. Other research also suggests that women are more likely to require mental exclusivity of their partner whereas men are less likely to require this type of fidelity of their partner (Cramer, Manning-Ryan, Johnson, & Barbo, 2000;Shackelford & Buss, 1996;Whitty, 2003a;Whitty, 2005). Since this study did not examine offline sexuality and infidelity it is unclear if men are less accepting of non-Internet based infidelities than of the online equivalents.…”

“…In fact, some online activities are deemed by many to be acts of infidelity (Mileham, 2007;Whitty, 2003aWhitty, , 2005Whitty & Quigley, in press). In Whitty's survey of 1,117 individuals it was found that behaviors such as cybersex (defined as two or more individuals engaging in private discourse about sexual fantasies, typically accompanied by sexual self-stimulation) and 'hotchatting' (defined as an online interaction that moves beyond light-hearted flirting) were believed by the majority of participants to be acts of infidelity.…”

“…Emotional online betrayal, such as falling in love or self-disclosing intimate details about oneself or one's partner online are also seen by many to be serious relationship transgressions (Whitty, 2003a(Whitty, , 2005. As with research on offline infidelity and jealousy, gender differences have been reported as regards to which acts men and women believe are more severe or upsetting.…”