ABSTRACT
To the extent that fidelity is an important feature of romantic relationships, infidelity should lead to a plethora of negative emotions, including feelings of jealousy. However, if we equate fidelity with monogamy, there is some interesting news to report. An examination of infidelity at the relationship level clarifies its elements and reveals its complexity. A 17-year longitudinal study reports that infidelity is both the cause and result of relationship discord and conflict. Clearly, men and women alike are concerned with infidelity. Although early approaches suggested that men are more threatened by sexual infidelity whereas women are more threatened by emotional infidelity because of the disparity in their parental investment, it now appears that men and women are similarly concerned with sexual infidelity. What sets them apart is how they deal with infidelity-related threats. Greater blameworthiness for sexual infidelity, in turn, results in anger. Lower levels of blame, such as in cases of emotional infidelity, result in sadness and hurt feelings.
