An exploratory study of 102 heterosexual men examined the relationship between one's sexrole concept as measured by the Personal Attributes Questionnaire, and indices of extramarital sexual (EMS) relationship frequency, intensity and duration. Three hypotheses were tested. The first hypothesis was based upon the prediction of writers and theorists in the area of EMS behavior that the adoption of the traditional masculine sexrole (versus an androgynous or feminine sexrole) defined an approach to heterosexual relationships that encouraged sexual unfaithfulness. / The second hypothesis tested whether discrepancies between one's actual and ideal sexroles were related to EMS behavior, based upon the prediction that discrepant men would "overconform" to the male role through EMS behavior. A third hypothesis tested whether sexrole concept was related differentially to the kinds of propelling and constraining factors that may influence involvement in EMS relationships. / None of the three hypotheses were supported by the data. A principle components analysis of factors propelling and constraining involvement in EMS relationships revealed two propelling factors (desire for sexual variety, and desire for emotional affiliation) and one constraining factor (religious, familial, and marital forces). An additional analysis beyond the original hypotheses found that the desire for sexual variety equally propelled monogamous and nonmonogamous men. Nonmonogamous men were less constrained by religious, familial or marital "social control" forces than monogamous men, and were more propelled by the need for "emotional affiliation" than were monogamous men. The findings were interpreted to imply that nonmonogamous men were either seeking in the EMS relationships a quality of communication and/or intimacy not found in their marriages, or, rationalizing their EMS activities due to intrapsychic conflicts over intimacy and commitment. The overall effect may be that of reducing the influence and salience of religious and familial constraints, thus making EMS more likely. / The overall results of the study suggest that EMS results from the interaction of personality and environmental-context factors, rather than the result of specific personality dimensions such as sexrole or sexrole discrepancy alone. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 2044. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75142 |
| Contributors | HYMAN, BRUCE MICHAEL., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 136 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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