Justifying by degrees: A grounded theory of men's decision‐making process in infidelity.

Infidelity is a common reason couples seek therapeutic help as betrayed partners are often hurt and dismayed by their partners' decision to engage in an extradyadic relationship. Despite its common occurrence, there are very few empirical studies of the decision‐making process behind infidelity. To...

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Published in:Journal of Marital & Family Therapy Vol. 49; no. 4; pp. 879 - 899
Main Authors: Perez, Carlos, Fife, Stephen T., Eggleston, Dane, Whiting, Jason B.
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Oct2023
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Oct2023
      vid: 49
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
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        10.1111/jmft.12663
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        atl: Justifying by degrees: A grounded theory of men's decision‐making process in infidelity.
      aug:
        au:
          Perez, Carlos
          Fife, Stephen T.
          Eggleston, Dane
          Whiting, Jason B.
        affil:
          Department of Behavioral Sciences, Lubbock Christian University, Lubbock Texas,, USA
          Community, Family, and Addiction Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock Texas,, USA
          School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo Utah,, USA
      su:
        Decision making
        Grounded theory
        Topological degree
        Mathematical category theory
        Continuous processing
      sug:
        subj:
          Decision making
          Grounded theory
          Topological degree
          Mathematical category theory
          Continuous processing
      keyword:
        decision‐making
        grounded theory
        infidelity
        decision‐making
        grounded theory
        infidelity
      ab: Infidelity is a common reason couples seek therapeutic help as betrayed partners are often hurt and dismayed by their partners' decision to engage in an extradyadic relationship. Despite its common occurrence, there are very few empirical studies of the decision‐making process behind infidelity. To address this gap, the current study used grounded theory, a qualitative approach commonly used to develop theories from participants' experiences, to explore men's processes in deciding to engage in infidelity. Analysis of interviews with participants (n = 13) resulted in a grounded theory of decision‐making by cisgender men who participated in infidelity while in a committed, heterosexual relationship. The results suggest that the decision involves a continuous process of justification and rationalization. Major categories of the theory include the preaffair context, snowballing, motivated reasoning, and postaffair decisions. Clinical implications are also included.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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