Gender differences with respect to sexual and emotional infidelity

Abstract

This dissertation explores gender differences with respect to sexual and emotional infidelity. This study is an extension of what Sabini and Green (2004) did. Hypothetical scenarios were used and participants had to rate their specific perceived emotions in each scenario on a likert scale. 153 University students participated in this study with an age range of 18-26 with an exception of three participants having an age of 30, 34 and 35. 10 participants had another nationality and the rest were Maltese. It was found that females perceive negative feelings such as hurt, anger and disgust with a higher intensity than males when imagining their partners both in a physical and emotional contact with someone else. On the other hand, males perceive negative emotions with a high intensity only when imagining their partner in a physical contact with someone else. Therefore this study doesn't fully support the evolutionary theory.