Abstract
This investigation of the social psychological and demographic variables associated with extramarital sexual and erotic involvement was carried out on a heterogeneous sample of 250 subjects. About one-quarter of the men and one-fifth of the women reported extramarital coital experience during the past year. The results indicate that subjects with higher educational backgrounds and no church attendance are relatively more involved in extramarital relations. Determinants of extramarital sexual and erotic behavior appear to be quite similar for both sexes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ATHANASIOU, R., P. SHAVER, and C. TARVIS (1970) “Sex.” Psychology Today: 39–52.
ATWATER, L. (1979) “Getting involved: women's transition to first extramarital sex.” Alternative Lifestyles 2: 33–68.
BARTELL, G. D. (1971) “Group sex.” New York: Wyden.
BELL, R. R., S. TURNER, and L. ROSEN (1975) “A multi-variate analysis of female extra-marital coitus.” J. of Marriage and the Family 37: 375–384.
BERLYNE, D. E. (1960) “Conflict, arousal and curiosity.” New York: McGraw-Hill.
BERSCHEID, E. and E. WALSTER (1976) “Physical attractiveness,” pp. 157–212 in L. Berkowitz (ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. New York: Academic Press.
BRINGLE, R. G., S. EVENBECK, and K. SCHMEDEL (1977) “The role of jealousy in marriage.” Presented at the 85th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco.
BUUNK, B. (1979) “Seksuele relaties buiten het huwelijk: een overzicht van recent onderzoek naar komaritaal en extramaritaal gedrag.” Zeist: NISSO.
CONSTANTINE, L. L. and J. N. CONSTANTINE (1973) Group Marriage: A Study of Contemporary Multilateral Marriage. New York: Macmillan.
EDWARDS, J. N. and A. BOOTH (1976) “Sexual behavior in and out of marriage: an assessment of correlates.” J. of Marriage and the Family 38: 73–81.
ELLIS, A. (1973) The Civilized Couple's Guide to Extramarital Adventure. Los Angeles: Pinnacle.
ENGLISH, O. S. (1967) “Values in psychology: the affair.” Voices: Art and Science of Psychotherapy 3: 9–14.
FISHBEIN, M. and I. AJZEN (1975) Belief, Attitude, Intention and Behavior, An Introduction to Theory and Research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
FRENKEN, J. (1975) “Sexualiteitsbeleving en huwelijksrelatie, een onderzoek onder 250 gehuwden.” Zeist: NISSO.
—— and P. VENNIX (1979) “Problemen in tweerelaties: een onderzoek onder 679 mannen en vrouwen.” Zeist: NISSO.
GILMARTIN, B. S. (1974) “Sexual deviance and social networks: study of social, family and marital interaction patterns among co-marital sex participants,” pp. 291–323 in J. R. Smith and L. S. Smith (eds.) Beyond Monogamy: Recent Studies of Sexual Alternatives in Marriage. Baltimore: John Hopkins Univ. Press.
GLASS, S. P. and T. L. WRIGHT (1977) “The relationship of extramarital sex, length of marriage, and sex differences on marital satisfaction and romanticism: Athanasiou's data reanalyzed.” J. of Marriage and the Family 39: 691–704.
GREENE, B. L., R. R. LEE, and N. LUSTIG (1974) “Conscious and unconscious factors in marital infidelity.” Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality 8: 97–105.
HUNT, M. (1974) Sexual Behavior in the 1970's. Chicago: Dell.
JACOBS, L., E. WALSTER, and E. BERSCHEID (1971) “Self-esteem and attraction.” J. of Personality and Social Psychology 17: 84–91.
JOHNSON, R. E. (1970) “Some correlates of extramarital coitus.” J. of Marriage and the Family 32: 449–456.
KNAPP, J. (1976) “An exploratory study of seventeen sexual open marriages.” J. of Sex Research 12: 206–219.
LIBBY, R. W. (1977) “Extramarital and comarital sex: a critique of the literature,” pp. 80–112 in R. W. Libby and R. N. Whitehurst (eds.) Marriage and Alternatives: Exploring Intimate Relationships. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.
MAYKOVICH, M. K. (1976) “Attitudes versus behavior in extramarital sexual relations.” J. of Marriage and the Family 38: 693–700.
NEUBECK, G. [ed.] (1969) Extramarital Relations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
NUNNALLY, J. (1967) Psychometric Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
NIE, N. H., C. H. HULL, J. G. JENKINS, K. STEINBRENNER, and D. H. BENT (1975) Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill.
PIETROPINTO, A. and J. SIMENAUER (1977) Beyond the Male Myth: What Women Want to Know About Men's Sexuality: A Nationwide Survey. New York: Times Books.
RAMEY, J. W. (1975) “Intimate groups and networks: frequent consequence of sexually open marriage.” J. of Family Coordinator 24: 515–530.
ROSENBERG, M. (1965) Society and the Adolescent: Self-Image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
SMITH, J. R. and L. S. SMITH [eds.] (1974) Beyond Monogamy: Recent Studies of Sexual Alternatives in Marriage.
STRONG, L. D. (1978) “Alternative marital and family forms: their relative attractiveness to college students and correlates of willingness to participate in nontraditional forms.” J. of Marriage and the Family 40: 493–505.
THIBAUT, J. W. and H. H. KELLEY (1959) The Social Psychology of Groups. New York: John Wiley.
WHITEHURST, R. N. (1969) “Extramarital sex: alienation or extension of normal behavior,” pp. 129–145 in G. Neubeck (ed.) Extramarital Relations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Author's Note: This research was supported by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Pure Research (Z.W.O.). Special appreciation is due to Dr. R. Meertens, Dr. M. Nawas, and members of the editorial board for their advice and helpful comments; and to F. van Winkel for his help in analyzing the data. A copy of the scales used in this study may be obtained from the author.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Buunk, B. Extramarital sex in the Netherlands. J Fam Econ Iss 3, 11–39 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01083027
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01083027