Analyzing the Meaning of Extramarital Relationships from the Perspective of Married People (Case Study: Married People Involved in Extramarital Relationships in Tehran)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D in Sociology, Department of Sociology and Social Planning, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

2 Associate Professor of Demography, Department of Sociology and Social Planning, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

10.22059/ijsp.2025.388102.671285

Abstract

Extramarital relationships are defined and interpreted differently across societies, cultures, and even among individuals, and have always been a source of controversy. According to research findings, the way individuals define and interpret extramarital relationships predicts their involvement in such relationships. Therefore, one of the most important aspects of examining extramarital relationships is addressing individuals' perspectives about them. Accordingly, this paper aims to explore the interpretations and meanings that married people assign to these relationships by utilizing a qualitative research approach. In performing the objective of this analysis, eighteen married people - Tehran residents - had been interviewed: Semi-structured interviews who, within virtual or real-space contexts, needed to establish at least one of their sexual-emotional or only-sex or emotion relations. Thematic analysis of the participants' narratives revealed that these meanings and interpretations included reducing extramarital relationships to sexual intercourse, trivializing extramarital relationships, generalizing extramarital relationships, discrediting marital fidelity, and Extramarital Relationships as Tacit Agreements. In this way, throughout this process, those studied participated in the re-conceptualizing of an extra-marital relationship as a non-moral issue and became involved in one. These findings show that through the redefinition, the participants did not try to eliminate the unfaithfulness label linked with their cheating behavior but tried to justify the involvement in these relationships as a strategy.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Social Problems of Iran
Volume 15, Issue 2
March 2024
Pages 197-217

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