Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T12:33:29.078Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Latent Class Analysis Approach to Extradyadic Involvement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2018

Lindsey M. Rodriguez*
Affiliation:
University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
Angelo M. DiBello
Affiliation:
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Camilla S. Øverup
Affiliation:
Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, New Jersey, USA
Helen Lee Lin
Affiliation:
University of Houston, Texas, USA
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Lindsey M. Rodriguez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Extradyadic involvement — emotional, romantic, or sexual involvement with another person outside of one's romantic relationship — may have serious personal and relational consequences. The current research examines extradyadic involvement in two samples of individuals in relationships and identifies subgroups of people based on their engagement in different types of extradyadic behaviour. To assess involvement in such behaviour, we created a new behavioural inventory intended to broaden the conceptualisation of types of extradyadic behaviours. Subgroups of individuals who engage in these behaviours were extracted using latent class analysis. Study 1 assessed undergraduate students in relationships (N = 339), and results revealed four classes of individuals: loyal, confiding, deceptive, and unfaithful. Follow-up tests demonstrated that these classes of individuals differed significantly in ways that are consistent with the investment model and attachment theory. Study 2 (N = 202) replicated the four-class solution, as well as the group differences in relationship functioning and attachment orientations. Results suggest theoretically consistent typologies of extradyadic behaviour that may be useful in differentiating deceptive behaviour in close relationships in a more precise way.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, E.S., Atkins, D.C., Baucom, D.H., Snyder, D.K., Gordon, K.C., & Glass, S.P. (2005). Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual factors in engaging in and responding to extramarital involvement. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 12, 101130. doi:10.1093/clipsy/bpi014Google Scholar
Allen, E.S., & Baucom, D.H. (2004). Adult attachment and patterns of extradyadic involvement. Family Process, 43, 467488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Amato, P.R., & Previti, D. (2003). People's reasons for divorcing: Gender, social class, the life course, and adjustment. Journal of Family Issues, 24, 602626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amato, P.R., & Rogers, S.J. (1997). A longitudinal study of marital problems and subsequent divorce. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 59, 612624.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkins, D.C., & Gallop, R.J. (2007). Rethinking how family researchers model infrequent outcomes: A tutorial on count regression and zero-inflated models. Journal of Family Psychology, 21, 726735. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.21.4.726CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barker, M., & Langdridge, D. (2010). Understanding non-monogamies. New York, NY: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birnbaum, G.E., Reis, H.T., Mikulincer, M., Gillath, O., & Orpaz, A. (2006). When sex is more than just sex: attachment orientations, sexual experience, and relationship quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 929943.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blow, A.J., & Hartnett, K. (2005). Infidelity in committed relationships II: A substantive review. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 31, 217233. doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.2005.tb01556.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bogaert, A.F., & Sadava, S. (2002). Adult attachment and sexual behavior. Personal Relationships, 9, 191204. doi:10.1111/1475-6811.00012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brand, R.J., Markey, C.M., Mills, A., & Hodges, S.D. (2007). Sex differences in self-reported infidelity and its correlates. Sex Roles, 57, 101109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brennan, K.A., Clark, C.L., & Shaver, P.R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In Simpson, J.A. & Rholes, W.S. (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 4676). New York, NY, US: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Brennan, K.A., & Shaver, P.R. (1995). Dimensions of adult attachment, affect regulation, and romantic relationship functioning. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 267283. doi:10.1177/0146167295213008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cano, A., & O'Leary, K.D. (2000). Infidelity and separations precipitate major depressive episodes and symptoms of nonspecific depression and anxiety. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 774781.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carpenter, C.J. (2012). Meta-analyses of sex differences in responses to sexual versus emotional infidelity: Men and women are more similar than different. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 36, 2537. doi:10.1177/0361684311414537CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, S., & Muthén, B. (2009). Relating latent class analysis results to variables not included in the analysis. Retrieved from https://www.statmodel.com/download/relatinglca.pdfGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. New York, NY: Routledge Academic.Google Scholar
Conley, T.D., Moors, A.C., Matsick, J.L., & Ziegler, A. (2012). The fewer the merrier? Assessing stigma surrounding consensually non-monogamous romantic relationships. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 13, 130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, D., Shaver, P.R., & Vernon, M.L. (2004). Attachment style and subjective motivations for sex. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 10761090. doi:10.1177/0146167204264794.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeSteno, D.A., & Salovey, P. (1996). Evolutionary origins of sex differences in jealousy? Questioning the ‘fitness’ of the model. Psychological Science, 7, 367372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeWall, C. N, Lambert, N.M., Slotter, E.B., Deckman, T., Pond, R.S., Finkel, E.J., Luchies, L., & Fincham, F.D. (2011). So far away from one's partner, yet so close to alternatives: Avoidant attachment, interest in alternatives, and infidelity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 13021316. doi:https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025497CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dijkstra, P., Groothof, H., Poel, G., Laverman, T., Schrier, M., & Buunk, B. (2001). Sex differences in the events that elicit jealousy among homosexuals. Personal Relationships, 8, 4154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Domingue, R., & Mollen, D. (2009). Attachment and conflict communication in adult romantic relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 26, 678696. doi:10.1177/0265407509347932CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drigotas, S.M., & Barta, W. (2001). The cheating heart: Scientific explorations of infidelity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, 177180. doi: 10.1111/1467-8721.00143CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drigotas, S.M., Safstrom, C.A., & Gentilia, T. (1999). An investment model prediction of dating infidelity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 509524. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.3.509CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feeney, J.A., Noller, P., & Patty, J. (1993). Adolescents’ interactions with the opposite sex: Influence of attachment style and gender. Journal of Adolescence, 16, 169186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fish, J.N., Pavkov, T.W., Wetchler, J.L., & Bercik, J. (2012). Characteristics of those who participate in infidelity: The role of adult attachment and differentiation in extradyadic experiences. American Journal of Family Therapy, 40, 214229. doi:10.1080/01926187.2011.601192CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fletcher, G.J. O., Simpson, J.A., & Thomas, G. (2000). The measurement of perceived relationship quality components: A confirmatory factor analytic study. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 340354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraley, R.C., Davis, K.E., & Shaver, P.R. (1998). Dismissing-avoidance and the defensive organization of emotion, cognition, and behavior. In Simpson, J.A. & Rholes, W.S. (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 249279). New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Fraley, R.C., Waller, N.G., & Brennan, K.A. (2000). An item response theory analysis of self-report measures of adult attachment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 350365. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.78.2.350CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibson, K.A., Thompson, A.E., & O'SulIivan, L.F. (2016). Love thy neighbour: Personality traits, relationship quality, and attraction to others as predictors of infidelity among young adults. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 25, 186198. doi:10.3138/cjhs.253-A2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glass, S.P., & Wright, T.L. (1985). Sex differences in type of extramarital involvement and marital dissatisfaction. Sex Roles, 12, 11011120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, K.C., & Baucom, D.H. (1999). A multitheoretical intervention for promoting recovery from extramarital affairs. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 6, 382399.Google Scholar
Gordon, K.C., Baucom, D.H., & Snyder, D.K. (2004). An integrative intervention for promoting recovery from extramarital affairs. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 30, 213231.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, C., & Christenfeld, N. (1996). Gender, jealousy, and reason. Psychological Science, 7, 364366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, C.A., Stanley, S.M., Glenn, N.D., Amato, P.A., Nock, S.L., Markman, H.J., & Dion, M.R. (2002). Marriage in Oklahoma: 2001 Baseline Statewide Survey on Marriage and Divorce (S02096 OKDHS). Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma Department of Human Services.Google Scholar
Lakens, D. (2013). Calculating and reporting effect sizes to facilitate cumulative science: A practical primer for t-tests and ANOVAs. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubke, G.H., & Muthén, B.O. (2005). Investigating population heterogeneity with factor mixture models. Psychological Methods, 10, 2139. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.10.1.21CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luo, S., Cartun, M.A., & Snider, A.G. (2010). Assessing extradyadic behavior: A review, a new measure, and two new models. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 155163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mattingly, B.A., Clark, E.M., Weidler, D.J., Bullock, M., Hackathorn, J., & Blankmeyer, K. (2011). Sociosexual orientation, commitment, and infidelity: A mediation analysis. The Journal of Social Psychology, 151, 222226. doi:10.1080/00224540903536162CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maxwell, S.E. & Delaney, H.D. (2004). Designing experiments and analyzing data: A model comparison perspective (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Meeus, W., van de Schoot, R., Klimstra, T., & Branje, S. (2011). Change and stability of personality types in adolescence: A five-wave longitudinal study in early-to-middle and middle-to-late adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 47, 11811195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P.R. (2003). The attachment behavioral system in adulthood: Activation, psychodynamics, and interpersonal processes. In Zanna, M.P. (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (vol. 35, pp. 53152). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P.R. (2013). Attachment theory as a framework for a positive psychology of love. In Hojjat, M. & Cramer, D. (Eds.), Positive psychology of love (pp. 7689). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nylund, K.L., Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B.O. (2007). Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: A Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modeling, 14, 535569. doi:10.1080/10705510701575396CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rusbult, C.E. (1980). Commitment and satisfaction in romantic associations: A test of the investment model. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 16, 172186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rusbult, C.E. (1983). A longitudinal test of the investment model: The development (and deterioration) of satisfaction and commitment in heterosexual involvements. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 101117. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.45.1.101CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rusbult, C.E., Martz, J.M., & Agnew, C.R. (1998). The Investment Model Scale: Measuring commitment level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. Personal Relationships, 5, 357391. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.1998.tb00177.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, V.M., Baker, L.R., & McNulty, J.K. (2013). Attachment insecurity and infidelity in marriage: Do studies of dating relationships really inform us about marriage? Journal of Family Psychology, 27, 242251. doi:10.1037/a0032118CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmitt, D.P. (2005). Is short-term mating the maladaptive result of insecure attachment? A test of competing evolutionary perspectives. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 747768.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tafoya, M., & Spitzberg, B.H. (2007). The dark side of infidelity: Its nature, prevalence, and communication. In Spitzberg, B.H. & Cupach, W.R. (Eds.), The dark side of interpersonal communication. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Thompson, A.P. (1983). Extramarital sex: A review of the research literature. Journal of Sex Research, 19, 122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, A.P. (1984). Emotional and sexual components of extramarital relations. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 46, 3542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, A.E., & O'Sullivan, L.F. (2016). Drawing the line: The development of a comprehensive assessment of infidelity judgments. Journal of Sex Research, 53, 910926. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2015.1062840CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Treas, J., & Giesen, D. (2000). Sexual infidelity among married and cohabiting Americans. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 4860. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.00048.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiser, D.A., Lalasz, C.B., Weigel, D.J., & Evans, W.P. (2014). A prototype analysis of infidelity. Personal Relationships, 21, 655675. doi:10.1111/pere.12056CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, K., Mattingly, B.A., Clark, E.M., Weidler, D.J., & Bequette, A.W. (2011). The gray area: Exploring attitudes towards infidelity and the development of the perceptions of dating infidelity scale. Journal of Social Psychology, 151, 6386. doi:10.1080/00224540903366750CrossRefGoogle Scholar