Browsing by Author "Sevi, B."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Open Access
Who cheats? An examination of light and dark personality traits as predictors of infidelity
(Elsevier, 2020) Sevi, B.; Urgancı, B.; Sakman, Ezgi
Acts of infidelity are violations of the exclusivity norm of close relationships, and some individuals engage in infidelity more than others. Previous studies show that individuals high in the Dark Triad, the malevolent side of personality, are more likely to engage in infidelity, however not much is known regarding the relationship of infidelity and benevolent personality traits, the Light Triad. This study (N = 309) aimed to examine the relations between dark and light side of personality traits and infidelity. Two separate regression analyses were conducted using the Dark Triad and the Light Triad as predictors of infidelity attitudes and infidelity behaviors. The results showed that psychopathy and Kantianism were significant predictors of infidelity attitudes, while only psychopathy emerged as the significant predictor of infidelity behaviors. The findings where the Dark and the Light Triad were simultaneously modeled shows that dark and light personality traits are separate constructs uniquely predicting infidelity attituded and for infidelity behaviors the malevolent may have more predictive power than the benevolent.
Open Access
Your cheating heart is just afraid of ending up alone: Fear of being single mediates the relationship between attachment anxiety and infidelity
(Elsevier, 2020-09-08) Sakman, Ezgi; Urganci, B.; Sevi, B.
Despite their detrimental effects, acts of infidelity are common. Several individual differences, including attachment orientations, have been linked to infidelity behaviors. Yet, the mechanisms underlying the relationship between attachment anxiety and infidelity are not well understood. This deserves attention, as the positive association between chronic worry about being abandoned and engaging in infidelity, which inherently increases the risk of being left by the partner, poses a paradox. Studying an online community sample (N = 233, 52.8% female, Mage = 36.73, Rangeage = 20–70) using self-report measures, we aim to offer an explanation to this conundrum by hypothesizing that the relationship between attachment anxiety and infidelity behaviors is mediated by fear of being single (i.e., the concern about being left without a partner). We found that those who have greater attachment anxiety showed increased fear of being single, which in turn predicted greater infidelity behaviors. The associations held after controlling for sex, age, and relationship length. Results suggest that people high on attachment anxiety are more likely to be involved in extradyadic relationships due to their high fear of being single, possibly as a bet-hedging strategy to minimize future risk of being single. Findings are discussed vis-à-vis implications for couples counseling.