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Infidelity Research 2013 Thesis Draft

This study aims to describe the relationship between perceived marital infidelity and the psychological well-being of married women in the Philippines. It analyzes how women's perceptions of their husbands' emotional and sexual infidelity relate to their autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, relationships, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. The study also examines how demographic factors like age, income, education, employment, and marriage length affect levels of perceived infidelity and psychological well-being. Results could help increase awareness of how suspicions of infidelity psychologically impact wives and identify coping strategies to alleviate negative effects.

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316 views

Infidelity Research 2013 Thesis Draft

This study aims to describe the relationship between perceived marital infidelity and the psychological well-being of married women in the Philippines. It analyzes how women's perceptions of their husbands' emotional and sexual infidelity relate to their autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, relationships, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. The study also examines how demographic factors like age, income, education, employment, and marriage length affect levels of perceived infidelity and psychological well-being. Results could help increase awareness of how suspicions of infidelity psychologically impact wives and identify coping strategies to alleviate negative effects.

Uploaded by

Hungry Reader
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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1

Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Psychological well-being is a strong determinant in an individuals success in life,


in work, and in relationships. Women, especially the married ones, have the greatest need
for a well-balanced mental state since they have the most roles to fulfil in everyday life.
Psychological well-beings importance is not limited to married women only. Wellbeing, whether it is high or low, affects many aspects of our lives, including self image,
education, sleep, eating, physical health and relationships (Hackner, 2007).
A married woman has a lot of roles to juggle; being a wife, mother, worker and an
individual woman (Smith, 2006). Each role has its own demand which requires great
emotional, physical and mental effort all at the same time (Smith, 2006; Rainey, 1989).
These responsibilities come with stress that affects the womans psychological well-being
and may hinder her from responding to her responsibilities (Heart Health, 2009; Smith,
2006).
Many studies have concluded that the highest level of subjective well-being
occurred in those who were married (Lauer & Lauer, 2009; Dush and Amato, 2005;
Marquardt, 2009; Papalia, 2009). Papalia (2009) stated that marriage presents valuable
benefits such as social support, encouragement of health promoting behaviours,
socioeconomic resources, and wealth accumulation. However, not all marriages are an
unfailing nor continuous source of well-being, as anyone who has experienced an

abusive, troubled, or one that ends in separation will attest to (Lauer & Lauer,
2009). As mentioned earlier, being in an unhealthy relationship can be very stressful and
can lead to health problems (Papalia, 2009; Goldstein, 2009). Studies have also found
that women more naturally value relationships more than men. So when the relationship
is souring it would make sense that more often than not, it affects women on a deeper
level (Goldstein, 2009).
According to Donaldson, Csikszentmihalyi, & Nakamura (2011), infidelity is
considered as a form of internal family stressor. Internal family stressors are said to
cause members to have very negative reactions, such as blame, because they view
internal stressors as within their control, thus making it more stressful.
In an article written by Molitor (2010), he discussed that women reported greater
deal of stress than men which is equivalent to 28 percent vs. 20 percent. Particularly,
married women (63 percent), reported significantly more stress than single women (41
percent). It was also mentioned that single women are less likely than married women to
report crying, irritability, and fatigue, and to resort to unhealthier ways to deal with stress.
According to a study to a study about psychological well-being about middle aged
Caucasian individuals, the researchers discovered that people with low positive wellbeing were 7.16 times more likely to be depressed (Wood & Jospeh, 2009). Among
individuals aged 45-59, suicide rates amounted up to 18 out of 100,000 (National
Institute of Mental Health, 2007).
According to a study conducted by Gultiano and Armecin, there is not enough
knowledge about the association between separation, widowhood and remarriage with
womens psychological well-being in the Philippines. Psychological well-being in this

study is measured in terms of the experience of depressive symptoms and domestic


violence. There are 3,327 women who had taken the Cebu Longitudinal Health and
Nutrition Survey. The study aimed to explore whether, and how, current marital status
relates to psychological well-being. The result of the study shows that social
relationships, specifically marital relationship, can affect individuals psychological wellbeing.
Many studies have been conducted using the variables well-being and infidelity in
highly industrialized countries abroad. However, there is scarcely any study in the
Philippines that focuses on these variables. Therefore, this study aims to explore whether
spousal infidelity relates to psychological well-being.

The Problem
The study aims to describe the relationship of perceived marital infidelity to the
well-being of married women. Specifically, this study will answer the following
questions:
1. What is the degree of the respondents perceived infidelity of their spouses in
terms of:
a. Emotional Infidelity
b. Sexual Infidelity
2. What is the degree of respondents Psychological well-being in terms of:
a. Autonomy
b. Environmental mastery
c. Personal growth
d. Positive relations with others
e. Purpose in life
f. Self-acceptance

3. Is there a significant difference in perceived spousal infidelity when the following


are considered:
a. Age
b. Family Monthly Income
c. Educational Attainment
d. Employment Status
e. Length of Marriage?
4. Is there any significant difference in psychological well-being considering the
following:
a. Age
b. Family Monthly Income
c. Educational Attainment
d. Employment Status
e. Length of Marriage?
5. Is there a significant relationship between spousal infidelity and psychological
well-being when the following are considered:
a. Age
b. Family Monthly Income
c. Educational Attainment
d. Employment Status
e. Length of Marriage?
6. Which variable predicts well-being?

Hypothesis
1. There is no significant relationship spousal infidelity and psychological wellbeing considering the respondents profile.
2. There is no significant difference in the respondents psychological well-being
considering the moderating variables.
3. There is no significant difference in perceived spousal infidelity considering the
moderating variables.
Significance of the Study

This study aims to benefit first and foremost the participants in this research that
they may be able to come to awareness about the quality of their marriage and their
current state of psychological health. This study may also bring awareness to the client
about how her suspicions that her husband is cheating has been affecting her everyday
life. This study can be an instrument in guiding the participants in being aware of the
commonly used coping styles when perceived infidelity is present and how it affects
relationship of spousal infidelity and psychological well-being. This research and its
outcomes aim to give new information and insights to benefit the following sectors of the
society:
Community. This study can serve as reference for the government to establish
intervention programs and other kinds of program for wives who might be neglected by
their husband due to infidelity. Marriage counsellors may also benefit from the study by
using the results of this study as additional data and/or reference to improve their therapy
for married couples.
Family: This study could help in establishing the correlation and in bringing out a
better understanding of the psychological well-being of those wives who perceives that
their partner is committing infidelity. The husband will be able to become aware of how
his actions are raising suspicions in his wife. Wives will learn more about the coping
strategies that may alleviate the effect of suspiciousness on their psychological wellbeing.
Individual. This study can help the wives to develop awareness regarding the
relationship of perceived infidelity to their psychological well-being. Awareness usually
is usually followed by ideas of action. When wives become aware of how their suspicion

of their husbands behaviour is affecting their daily lives (whether suspicion is grounded
or not), it may enable them to realize what action they should take.
Research. This study could help in establishing the correlation and bring out a
better understanding of the psychological well-being of those wives who perceives that
their partner is committing infidelity. This would also serve as an awareness that statistics
of spousal infidelity is increasing and that family relationships should be taken care of.
This study hopes to fulfil the inquiry of the researchers about the relationship of spousal
infidelity to the well-being of the faithful spouse. Hopefully it can inspire others to make
further research on this topic.

Scope and Limitation


This study focused only on determining the relationship between psychological
well-being and spousal infidelity. It also aims to see how other demographic information
serves as moderator to the relationship. On this study, the participants age, length of
marriage, family monthly income, educational attainment, employment status were only
considered as moderating variables. There may be other factors that can act as moderator
which the researchers were not able to include such as number of children and religion.
This study is limited to married individuals whether they live together, apart, separated or
annulled. This does not include those that are not married under the law (e.g.
cohabitation). There are only specific places where the participants will come from
therefore the demographic info and individual differences are included in the limitations
of the study. Due to individual differences, the perceptions of the participants may be
different to those that are not included in the study. Another limitation to the study is that

the respondents well-being was only measured by their perceptions of infidelity therefore
the researchers were only limited to subjective judgment. Lastly, the research design
does not have the capability to eliminate extraneous variable therefore the results may
have been affected by other factors that are not included in the study such as physical and
environmental condition.

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