Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Contextual Factors in.pdf

Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Contextual Factors in Engaging in and Responding to Extramarital Involvement Elizabeth S. Allen, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center David C. Atkins, Travis Research Institute, Fuller Graduate School of Psychology Donald H. Baucom, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Douglas K. Snyder, Texas AM University Kristina Coop Gordon, University of Tennessee at Knoxville Shirley P. Glass, Private Practice, Owings Mills, Maryland Extramarital involvement (EMI) occurs with high preva- Giesen, 2000; Wiederman Allgeier, 1996) with up to lence among couples in clinical and community settings, 97% of respondents stating that married persons should frequently resulting in considerable distress both to not engage in extramarital sex (C. A. Johnson et al., participants and their spouses. The field lacks a synthe- 2002). Despite these attitudes, many individuals eventu- sized review of this literature. Without such a synthesis, it ally engage in EMI. Specific findings regarding rates has been difficult for researchers and clinicians to have an (and correlates) of EMI vary in part as a function of the manner in which such involvement is operationalized. understanding of what is and is not known about EMI. This Most survey research uses extramarital sex as the target article reviews the large and scattered EMI literature using variable, but another popular approach is to ask a framework that encompasses multiple source domains participants about ‘‘affairs’’ although the definition of across the temporal process of