~ e ; r e p ~ u aand l Motor Skills, 1977,45,747-750. @ Perceptual and Motor Skills 1977
T H E ERRANT SPOUSE: A STUDY IN PERSON PERCEPTION JACK HARTNETT, JOHN MAHONEY, AND ALICE BERNSTEIN
Virginia C o m m o n ~ i ~ e d Lrnii~crsity' th Summary.-College .students rated protagonists of vignettes involved in extra-marital affairs in two separate studies. In the first study, where the affair resulted in the errant spouse falling in love, both the husband and wife were perceived more favorably when they cheated than when they were being cheated. The results of the second study, where the affair did not involve love, were opposite from those of the first. The cheating spouse was viewed negatively. N o significant differences were found between married and unmarried subjects' perceptions. Results indicated that the motivation for an extramarital affair may be crucial in evaluation. Implications of perceived competence of the spouse were considered.
In recent years the United States has witnessed a changing morality of sex and marriage (Fowler & Van DeReit, 1972). With the advent of the birth control pill, the Women's Liberation Movement, and changes in other facets of American life, the distinction between sex roles has become blurred (Ellis & Bentler, 1973). Traditional views of marriage frowned on married individuals participating in extramarital affairs, particularly the wife. The double standard prevailed which made it more acceptable for a man to "fool around" than a wife. While there have been a plethora of studies and theories of person perception (Heider, 1958; Jones & Davis, 1965; Kelly, 1967), extramarital affairs and the view of the protagonists have been overlooked. It has been shown that person perception is not only a function of characteristics of the actor but characteristics of individuals associated with the actor. Sigall and Landy ( 1973), BarTal and Saxe ( 1976), and Hartnett and Elder ( 1973) demonstrated that the physical attractiveness of the opposite sex partner affects the perception of an individual. Although it has never been investigated, it is reasonable to assume that such evaluations would also be made of the parties involved in an extramarital affair. The assessment of an errant spouse should be, in part, a function of how the other spouse is perceived and also how the "other man/womanW is perceived. When someone has an extramarital affair, it is reasonable to expect friends and acquaintances to make judgments, not only concerning the individual having an affair but also the others involved in the extended relationship. This paper reports the results of two separate studies examining how parties to an extramarital affair are viewed by males and females.
STUDY I Method
Szrbjects.-Subjects
were 39 male and 39 female undergraduate students
'901 West Franklin Street, Richmond, Virginia 23284.
748
J. HARTNETT,
ET AL.
enrolled in various sections of the introductory psychology course at Virginia Commonwealth University. Procedwfe.-Equal numbers of males and females, 13 per cell, were randomly assigned across three conditions to read one of three short vignettes describing a young married couple. In the husband cheating condition, the husband was described as being involved in an extramarital relationship with a young woman. A second condition, wife cheating, described the same set of circumstances but it was the wife who was having an affair with a young man. In both affair conditions it was mentioned that the spouse had fallen in love with the other man/woman. In the third condition, which was a control, there was a brief description of the individuals but there was no mention of an affair. After reading the short vignettes, subjects were asked to rate the protagonists on an evaluative semantic differential. For the husband cheating and wife cheating conditions, subjects rated three individuals, "Husband," "Wife," and "Other person," while in the control condition subjects merely rated the husband and wife. A 2 (sex of rater) by 3 (condition) analysis of variance was performed on the ratings. Results The results were similar for both husband and wife across conditions. Inspection of the data disclosed that across the three conditions the wife was liked most when she was having an affair (P2,74= 5.54, p < .01). Both male and female subjects viewed the wife most favorably when she was cheating on her husband, liked her somewhat less in the control condition, and liked her least when her husband was having an affair. Similar results appeared for the evaluation of the husband. H e was viewed more favorably (F2,74 = 4.51, p < .01) when he was having the affair than when his wife was having the affair. There were no significant differences between male and female subjects in their evaluation of the husband and wife but there was a significant sex difference = 8.05, p .01) in the evaluation of the other man/woman. Males rated both the "other man" and "other woman" more favorably than did the females. The above results appeared to indicate that a spouse was viewed more favorably when he or she was being unfaithful than when the individual was being cheated against. One explanation may have been the effect of love. Subjects were told that the errant spouse had "fallen in love" with the other man/ woman and this may have affected the perceptions of the subjects. A second study was undertaken to assess t'he impact of love.
T H E ERRANT SPOUSE: A STUDY IN PERSON PERCEPTION JACK HARTNETT, JOHN MAHONEY, AND ALICE BERNSTEIN
Virginia C o m m o n ~ i ~ e d Lrnii~crsity' th Summary.-College .students rated protagonists of vignettes involved in extra-marital affairs in two separate studies. In the first study, where the affair resulted in the errant spouse falling in love, both the husband and wife were perceived more favorably when they cheated than when they were being cheated. The results of the second study, where the affair did not involve love, were opposite from those of the first. The cheating spouse was viewed negatively. N o significant differences were found between married and unmarried subjects' perceptions. Results indicated that the motivation for an extramarital affair may be crucial in evaluation. Implications of perceived competence of the spouse were considered.
In recent years the United States has witnessed a changing morality of sex and marriage (Fowler & Van DeReit, 1972). With the advent of the birth control pill, the Women's Liberation Movement, and changes in other facets of American life, the distinction between sex roles has become blurred (Ellis & Bentler, 1973). Traditional views of marriage frowned on married individuals participating in extramarital affairs, particularly the wife. The double standard prevailed which made it more acceptable for a man to "fool around" than a wife. While there have been a plethora of studies and theories of person perception (Heider, 1958; Jones & Davis, 1965; Kelly, 1967), extramarital affairs and the view of the protagonists have been overlooked. It has been shown that person perception is not only a function of characteristics of the actor but characteristics of individuals associated with the actor. Sigall and Landy ( 1973), BarTal and Saxe ( 1976), and Hartnett and Elder ( 1973) demonstrated that the physical attractiveness of the opposite sex partner affects the perception of an individual. Although it has never been investigated, it is reasonable to assume that such evaluations would also be made of the parties involved in an extramarital affair. The assessment of an errant spouse should be, in part, a function of how the other spouse is perceived and also how the "other man/womanW is perceived. When someone has an extramarital affair, it is reasonable to expect friends and acquaintances to make judgments, not only concerning the individual having an affair but also the others involved in the extended relationship. This paper reports the results of two separate studies examining how parties to an extramarital affair are viewed by males and females.
STUDY I Method
Szrbjects.-Subjects
were 39 male and 39 female undergraduate students
'901 West Franklin Street, Richmond, Virginia 23284.
748
J. HARTNETT,
ET AL.
enrolled in various sections of the introductory psychology course at Virginia Commonwealth University. Procedwfe.-Equal numbers of males and females, 13 per cell, were randomly assigned across three conditions to read one of three short vignettes describing a young married couple. In the husband cheating condition, the husband was described as being involved in an extramarital relationship with a young woman. A second condition, wife cheating, described the same set of circumstances but it was the wife who was having an affair with a young man. In both affair conditions it was mentioned that the spouse had fallen in love with the other man/woman. In the third condition, which was a control, there was a brief description of the individuals but there was no mention of an affair. After reading the short vignettes, subjects were asked to rate the protagonists on an evaluative semantic differential. For the husband cheating and wife cheating conditions, subjects rated three individuals, "Husband," "Wife," and "Other person," while in the control condition subjects merely rated the husband and wife. A 2 (sex of rater) by 3 (condition) analysis of variance was performed on the ratings. Results The results were similar for both husband and wife across conditions. Inspection of the data disclosed that across the three conditions the wife was liked most when she was having an affair (P2,74= 5.54, p < .01). Both male and female subjects viewed the wife most favorably when she was cheating on her husband, liked her somewhat less in the control condition, and liked her least when her husband was having an affair. Similar results appeared for the evaluation of the husband. H e was viewed more favorably (F2,74 = 4.51, p < .01) when he was having the affair than when his wife was having the affair. There were no significant differences between male and female subjects in their evaluation of the husband and wife but there was a significant sex difference = 8.05, p .01) in the evaluation of the other man/woman. Males rated both the "other man" and "other woman" more favorably than did the females. The above results appeared to indicate that a spouse was viewed more favorably when he or she was being unfaithful than when the individual was being cheated against. One explanation may have been the effect of love. Subjects were told that the errant spouse had "fallen in love" with the other man/ woman and this may have affected the perceptions of the subjects. A second study was undertaken to assess t'he impact of love.
