The Perceptions of Dating Infidelity Scale

Infidelity is a hot topic in the study of relationships. That makes it much more surprising that there is no commonly accepted definition for infidelity in the field. This means that psychologists have to grapple with the question of how to define their variable, as well as how to compare their findings with the findings of others.

To give you an idea of the scope of the problem, here are two examples. Wilson, Mattingly, Clark, Weidler and Bequette identified four different terms researchers in the field of social psychology use for what is called “cheating” in everyday life (2011). Two other psychologists, Walters and Burger note that, among the studies they cite in their research paper about disclosures of infidelity, there are no fewer than seven different expressions for “cheating”, only one of which was mentioned in Wilson et al.’s study (2013). To top it off, some psychologists have divided infidelity into two components: emotional and sexual infidelity. While they study the two separately, it is difficult to imagine people who have learned of their partner’s infidelity taking the time to make the distinction. Is there another way infidelity could be broken down that would better match the way people think about it?

To clear up some of this muddle, Wilson and her colleagues sought to develop the Perceptions of Dating Infidelity Scale, which would allow them to identify specific behaviours that people consider indicative of infidelity. In a first study, they asked participants to rate “the level of cheating” associated with activities if they were to engage in them with someone other than their romantic partner. Factor analysis was performed with the data they obtained, and three factors emerged. The items in the scale loaded onto either Ambiguous, Explicit or Deceptive behaviours. The scale has a reasonably high level of concurrent validity, as demonstrated in a second study. The authors found that the degree to which subjects associated the behaviours with cheating was related to the guilt they reported they would feel if they engaged in them, and their sociosexual orientation (Wilson et al., 2011). Future research is required to determine if the scale could be useful in other types of studies related to infidelity, but for now, it remains a promising tool that could help organize research findings.

References

Walters, A. S., & Burger, B. D. (2013). “I love you, and I cheated”: Investigating disclosures of infidelity to primary romantic partners. Sexuality & Culture: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, 17(1), 20–49.

Wilson, K., Mattingly, B. A., Clark, E. M., Weidler, D. J., & Bequette, A. W. (2011). The gray area: Exploring attitudes toward infidelity and the development of the Perceptions of Dating Infidelity Scale. The Journal of Social Psychology, 151(1), 63–86.

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