Most studies devoted to infidelity and its representations regularly compare men and women. On the one hand, in terms of attitudes towards infidelity, and on the other hand, in terms of the conduct of that same behavior. This often reveals significant differences between women's and men's attitudes towards extramarital sex.
Allen et al (2005) and Petersen & Hyde (2010) found that men, compared to women, expressed fewer hostile attitudes towards extramarital sex. Nevertheless, there is a discrepancy between attitudes and conduct. This was shown in van Hooff's (2017) study in which participants describing infidelity as morally unacceptable expressed engaging in the behavior at the same time.
More than a matter of sexuality, perceptions of infidelity appear to be a matter of gender-based dominance. Indeed, Langhamer (2006) suggests that women are judged more severely than men because adulterous women have a higher emotional, material and social price to pay for their transgression. |