So far away from one’s partner, yet so close to romantic alternatives: Avoidant attachment, interest in alternatives, and infidelity.

Summary & key facts

Researchers combined eight studies to see if people who are dispositionally avoidant in relationships are more likely to notice, think about, or act on romantic alternatives. Across studies, avoidant attachment was linked to more permissive attitudes about cheating, more attention to attractive alternatives, greater daily interest in meeting alternatives, more positive views of alternatives, and more actual infidelity over time. Lower commitment to the current partner helped explain these links.

Key facts:

• The research pooled evidence from 8 separate studies to test the same basic idea.
• Study 1 found that people higher in dispositional avoidant attachment reported more permissive attitudes toward infidelity.
• Study 2 found that avoidantly attached people showed an attentional bias toward attractive alternative partners (they paid more attention to potential alternatives).
• Studies 3, 4, 7, and 8 found that higher avoidant attachment was associated with engaging in more infidelity over time.
• Study 5 found greater daily interest in meeting alternatives among people higher in avoidant attachment.
• Study 6 found that people higher in avoidant attachment perceived alternatives to their current partner more positively.
• Studies 5 through 8 showed that lower levels of commitment helped explain (mediated) the link between avoidant attachment and interest in or behavior toward alternatives.

Abstract

Temptation pervades modern social life, including the temptation to engage in infidelity. The present investigation examines one factor that may put individuals at a greater risk of being unfaithful to their partner: dispositional avoidant attachment style. The authors hypothesize that avoidantly attached people may be less resistant to temptations for infidelity due to lower levels of commitment in romantic relationships. This hypothesis was confirmed in 8 studies. People with high, vs. low, levels of dispositional avoidant attachment had more permissive attitudes toward infidelity (Study 1), showed attentional bias toward attractive alternative partners (Study 2), expressed greater daily interest in meeting alternatives to their current relationship partner (Study 5), perceived alternatives to their current relationship partner more positively (Study 6), and engaged in more infidelity over time (Studies 3, 4, 7, and 8). This effect was mediated by lower levels of commitment (Studies 5-8). Thus, avoidant attachment predicted a broad spectrum of responses indicative of interest in alternatives and propensity to engage in infidelity, which were mediated by low levels of commitment.

Topics

Attachment and Relationship Dynamics Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior Marriage and Sexual Relationships

Categories

Experimental and Cognitive Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Attachment theory Biology Developmental psychology Genetics Partner effects Permissive Psychoanalysis Psychology Romance Social psychology Temptation

Conditions & symptoms

Feeling disconnected from others