The Influence Of Relationship Quality And Infidelity Perception On Online Sexual Activities Among Individuals In Committed Relationships

Online sexual activities(OSAs)came into our sight with the development of Internet.An OSA can be defined as "any activity online that involves sexuality," and includes recreation or entertainment activities,seeking out support services to address sexual concerns,education,purchasing sexual materials,searching for sexual partners,and so on.Researchers have classified OSAs into four main activities:(1)viewing sexually explicit material(SEM);(2)sexual partner seeking;(3)cybersex;and(4)online flirting so as to research conveniently.Researches about OSA in western countries have shown that gender differences in the frequency and rate of OSA experiences(i.e.men are the main users of OSA);the factors contribute to OSA(from demographic variables to relationship-related variables);the influence on real life and the consistency between online and offline sexual activity.In China,the researches about OSA were late start and focused the attention on sociology,so as to explore it in ethical issues and solutions.The psychological research about OSA did not start until 2014,and found the universality of OSA in China.Previous studies were carried out in general population to examine characteristics of online sexual activity and influencing factors,including gender,age,sexual orientation,relationship status,religion,personality traits,attitude and so on,the damage to excessive users.Researchers found that individuals engage in various types of OSAs to satisfy their needs.Notably,although the few studies that have investigated the influence of relationship status on OSAs have produced diverse results,the consensus seems to be that individuals do appear to engage in OSAs even when they have steady partners in real life.The participants who have a steady partner in real life and still seek to experience online extradyadic relationships are defined as engaging in online infidelity.Online infidelity(OI)includes both an emotional and a sexual component,which is consistent with studies on offline infidelity.Additionally,gender difference in response to online infidelity was exist,that is,women were much more upset by the emotional OI than sexual OI and men were much more upset by the sexual OI than emotional OI,which was parallel to offline infidelity.However,few researchers examined OSA among individuals in commitment relationship(online infidelity)and explore its influence factors.Moreover,most researchers explained the gender difference in OSAs with the traditional sexual script(TSS)and evolutionary theories,and few studies try to explain the gender difference in OSA with the gender difference in the infidelity perception of OSA,although the finding have found that the gender difference in infidelity perception of OSA and the influence perception on OSA.Therefore,based on the apparent connection between online and offline sexual activities,and individuals in commitment relationship still engage in OSA,we explored whether relationship quality(relationship-related variables),which are highly related to offline infidelity,also contribute to individuals' online infidelity,and the gender difference in infidelity perception of OSA and its influence on OSA experience among Chinese individuals in commitment relationship by the method of questionnaire.Specifically,study 1 mainly examined the relationship between relation-related variables(i.e.relationship quality,attachment and communication patterns)and OSAs experiences.The measuring tool mainly included the Revised Version of Online Sexual Activity Questionnaire,the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale(RDAS),Communication Patterns Questionnaire,and the Experiences in Close Relationship Questionnaire-Revised(ECR-R).Study 2 mainly examined the infidelity perception of OSA,and its influence on OSAs experience,and the measuring tool mainly included the Revised Version of Online Sexual Activity Questionnaire and the Infidelity Perception of OSA Questionnaire(i.e.asking participants to select whether they think each dimension of OSAs was infidelity,selecting from YES or No).Study 3,we added SOI and commitment into our study in order to explore the possible effect of infidelity perception on the relationship between SOI,commitment and OSAs.The measuring tool mainly included the Revised Version of Online Sexual Activity Questionnaire,the SOI-R,and the Commitment Scale.Following are the principal results and conclusions:(1)Most of the participants reported OSA experiences in the past 12 months even when they had a real-life partner.Men showed higher rates and frequencies of engaging in all subtypes of OSAs compared to women.Individuals with lower relationship quality in real life,including low relationship satisfaction,insecure attachment,and negative communication patterns,engaged in OSAs more frequently.Overall,our results suggest that variables influencing offline infidelity may also influence online infidelity.(2)Men were less likely to perceive OSA as infidelity and engaged more frequently in all subtypes of OSA than women.Individuals who did not perceive OSA as infidelity engaged in more frequency of sexual partner seeking,cybersex,and online flirting than those who perceived OSA as infidelity.Furthermore,infidelity perception mediated the relationship between gender and OSA experiences.The findings indicated that infidelity perception for OSA shaped the OSA experiences and contributed gender differences in OSA.(3)Women were more likely to perceive OSA as infidelity,including viewing SEM,seeking sexual partner,cybersex,and flirting.Individuals who got higher score in SOI,engaged in OSAs more frequently.Women with lower level of commitment,engaged in seeking sexual partner,cybersex,and flirting more frequently.Furthermore,infidelity perception mediated the relationship between SOI,commitment and OSA experiences.Overall,individuals in commitment relationship engaged in OSAs is widespread,and the apparent connection and common mechanisms between online and offline sexual activities is existed,such as relation-related variables influencing offline infidelity also influence online infidelity.Moreover,infidelity perception for OSA shaped the OSA experiences and contributed gender differences in OSA.