Pathways to Infidelity: The Roles of Self-Serving Bias and Betrayal Trauma

Abstract

This study employed a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to examine the interrelationships between the self-serving bias and various known predictors of sexual infidelity. Specifically, we sought to generate a path model depicting how the following variables jointly predict sexual infidelity perpetration: (1) insecure attachment, (2) pathological narcissism, (3) sexual narcissism, (4) primary psychopathy, (5) self-serving attributions for retaliatory infidelity, and (6) sexual betrayal victimization. We developed a structural model describing various pathways to sexual infidelity perpetration based on these six variables. Three pathways to infidelity were discovered. In the first pathway, anxious and avoidant attachment predicted primary psychopathy, and self-justification for retaliatory infidelity mediated the relationship between primary psychopathy and infidelity perpetration. In the second pathway, anxious attachment predicted sexual narcissism, which predicted self-justification for retaliatory infidelity, which in turn predicted infidelity perpetration. In the third pathway, being a victim of sexual betrayal directly predicted sexual infidelity perpetration. In fact, suffering sexual betrayal was the best predictor of sexual infidelity perpetration. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.