moral commitment and religiosity in newlywed women and their influence on infidelity expectations
DESCRIPTION
The Commitment Framework, developed by Johnson (1999), describes commitment in terms of personal, moral, and structural factors. Flores and Campbell (2009) used this framework to ascertain newlywed women’s expectations of infidelity and divorce. Findings indicated that moral commitment was significantly related to women’s expectations of infidelity, but not divorce. In the current study, we extend these findings by investigating which sub-components of moral commitment (i.e., values about relationship dissolution, moral obligations to a partner or other people, personal consistency values) are related to women’s infidelity expectations. One limitation of Johnson’s moral commitment factor is that it does not fully account for religiosity. Therefore, we additionally explore the influence of religion and religiosity on infidelity expectations. Our findings indicated that two of Johnson’s moral commitment subscales were significantly related to women’s infidelity expectations. Women were significantly less likely to expect to engage in extramarital sex if they felt morally obligated to a partner or a person outside of the relationship and if they valued consistency. Values about relationship dissolution and degree of religiosity did not predict infidelity expectations. These findings disconfirm our initial prediction that infidelity expectations would be significantly lower for highly religious individuals. Previous research has found that religion helps lower the risk of infidelity (Dollahite & Lambert, 2007); however, it is possible that this effect is meditational. Our findings suggest that moral obligations to a partner or other people (rather than God), as well as consistency values may account for the association between religiosity and infidelity expectations. Another possibility is that religiosity may in fact protect against infidelity, while not significantly impacting expectations of infidelity, which was the outcome variable in our study. Practitioners can help couples safeguard their marriage against infidelity, by bolstering each partner’s feelings of moral commitment toward their spouse and other people, and by strengthening each partner’s consistency values.TRANSCRIPT
Carlos G. FloresDr. Kelly Campbell Department of PsychologyCalifornia State University, San Bernardino
THE ROLE OF MORAL COMMITMENT ON NEWLYWED WOMEN'S INFIDELITY EXPECTATIONS
Introduction
Commitment
Expectations of monogamy
Expectations of monogamy
Disapproval of infidelity
20-25% engage in it
20-25% engage in it
50-65% enter counseling
20-25% engage in it
50-65% enter counseling
Most cited reason for divorce
Previous study
COMMITMENT FRAMEWORK
COMMITMENT FRAMEWORK
•Personal Commitment•“Want to”
COMMITMENT FRAMEWORK
•Personal Commitment•“Want to”
•Moral Commitment•“Ought to”
COMMITMENT FRAMEWORK
•Personal Commitment•“Want to”
•Moral Commitment•“Ought to”
•Structural Commitment• “Have to”
Infidelity
COMMITMENT FRAMEWORK
•Personal Commitment•“Want to”
•Moral Commitment•“Ought to”
•Structural Commitment• “Have to”
MORAL COMMITMENT
MORAL COMMITMENT
•Values about dissolution• Attitudes about divorce
MORAL COMMITMENT
•Values about dissolution• Attitudes about divorce
•Personal Moral obligation to others
• Partner contract
MORAL COMMITMENT
•Values about dissolution• Attitudes about divorce
•Personal Moral obligation to others
• Partner contract
•Value of Consistency• “Always finish what you start”
Problem
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
•Which subcomponents of Moral Commitment are related to women’s expectations of infidelity?
•Does religiosity affect expectations of infidelity in newlywed women?
SAMPLE•197 Women
• Online Questionnaire
•Newly married• Less than 2 years Married
• Long enough to have already experienced dissatisfaction
• Without Children• In their first marriage
ANALYSIS•Multiple regression used
•PREDICTORS• Commitment Framework (Johnson et al., 1999)
• 13 Questions• Likert-type• From “Very Little” (1) to “Very much” (5)
• Reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficients):• Moral Commitment = .857
• Values about dissolution = .849• Partner contract = .712• Consistency values = .833
ANALYSIS•PREDICTORS Cont’d
• Religiosity (Campbell, 2008)• “How religious are you?”
• Very• Fairly• Slightly• Not religious
•CRITERIA• Infidelity Expectations (Campbell, 2008)
• Assign percentage from 0-100%
Results
OVERALL LINEAR MODEL
•The overall model was significant
• F(15, 168) = 2.22, p = .007• R2 = .407, Adjusted R2 = .091
MORAL COMMITMENT:Values about dissolution
Questions B SE B β pIf you divorced, to what extent would you be disappointed in yourself because you had broken a sacred vow? -.726 .555 -.142 .193
How much does getting a divorce violate your religious beliefs? -.200 .446 -.047 .653How much do you believe it's alright to get a divorce if things are not working out? -.233 .565 -.045 .681How much do you believe that if a couple works hard at making their marriage succeed and still cannot get along, divorce is a viable option?
-.575 .567 -.113 .312
How much do you believe that when you agree to get married, you are morally bound to stay married? .092 .541 .019 .865
* p < .05
MORAL COMMITMENT:Partner contract
Questions B SE B β pWould you feel bad about getting a divorce because you promised your partner that you would stay with him or her forever?
.727 .601 .134 .227
How much do you feel you could never leave your partner because he or she needs you too much? -.571 .479 -.107 .235
If you were ever to want a divorce, how difficult would it be to tell your partner? -1.59 .629 -.205 .012*How much do you believe you could never leave your partner because you would feel guilty about letting him or her down?
1.00 .517 .191 .054*
* p < .05
MORAL COMMITMENT:Consistency values
Questions B SE B β pHow much do you believe that whenever you promise to do something, you should see it through? -2.36 1.04 -.225 .024*
How much do you believe it's important to stand by what you believe in? -1.82 1.35 -.128 .180
How much do you feel that you should always finish what you start? 1.58 .897 .193 .078How much do you believe that even when things get hard, you should do the things you have promised to do? .101 1.08 .011 .926
* p < .05
RELIGIOSITY
Variable B SE B β p
Religiosity -.493 2.419 -.018 .839
* p < .05
SO THEN…
•Women were significantly less likely to expect to engage in extramarital sex if they:
• felt morally obligated to a partner• if they valued consistency
•Values about relationship dissolution had no effect on infidelity expectations
DISCUSSION
•Previous research has found that religion lowers risk of infidelity
• Moral commitment might serve as a mediator
•Moral obligations to a partner (rather than God), as well as consistency values may account for the association between religiosity and infidelity expectations
•religiosity may in fact protect against infidelity, while not significantly impacting expectations of infidelity
DISCUSSION cont’d
•Practitioners:• Can help protect couples from infidelity by
strengthening each partner’s feelings of obligation toward their spouse and by enhancing their consistency values
Acknowledgements