I wrote down some reasons why I thought people in non-monogamous relationships would cheat

I wrote down some reasons why I thought people in non-monogamous relationships would cheat

Other people cited things like the influence of alcohol or just a desire for excitement or for novelty or attention. Of those 104 participants there were 6, who did say that they desired an open or a polyamorous relationship and that was their motivation for cheating. They did find that there wasn’t really a significant difference between genders. They did find that those who reported engaging in infidelity because of unmet interdependence needs and in particular, unmet intimacy needs, were more avoidantly attached than those who didn’t reference having some unmet interdependence needs, which is fascinating.

Emily: I think, again, I’m just hypothesizing but potentially in hierarchical relationships, that potentially would be more of a thing that might happen, I don’t know

In contrast, those who reported engaging in infidelity because of unmet independence needs were more anxiously attached than those who didn’t report that. That’s so interesting because the way that my brain works, I would think, oh, anxious attached, you always want more of that connection. You want more of that intimacy. That’s what you’re pursuing. If you’re avoidant attached, you’re always wanting more of that independence and more of that autonomy and it’s actually swoopy swapped, at least, in this study, which is super interesting.

Jase: That would be something interesting to have a study that looks more into that specifically because this is still a pretty small study of a fairly narrow group. That’d be interesting to take that further. You researchers out there, feel free to take that one.

Jase: Yes. Just put like a little thanks to me in your abstract or something. Don’t even worry about it.

Maybe you’re not getting that from your priple, or searching for something that you’re not getting out of your current relationship, things like that

Emily: Just a brief quote from the article was, participating in infidelity may be another way that emerging adults attempt to meet their needs for independence in interdependence. Continue reading “I wrote down some reasons why I thought people in non-monogamous relationships would cheat”