Relief over the disconfirmation of the prospect of sexual and emotional infidelity

Two studies tested the predictions that the disconfirmation of the prospect of a mate’s sexual infidelity generates more intense relief in men than in women, whereas the disconfirmation of the prospect of a mate’s emotional infidelity generates more intense relief in women than in men. Additionally, the intensity of relief was predicted to increase with the likelihood of infidelity. The participants indicated their relief over the disconfirmation of the prospect of sexual and emotional infidelity in a forced-choice response format and on separate rating scales. As predicted, more women than men indicated that they would be more relieved about the disconfirmation of the prospect of emotional infidelity. Ratings of the intensity of relief consistently confirmed the prediction that men are more relieved than women about the disconfirmation of the prospect of sexual infidelity. Additionally, women consistently reported more relief about the disconfirmation of emotional than of sexual infidelity. The impact of the likelihood of infidelity on relief was negligible. Limitations and implications of the present study are discussed.