We show that relationship satisfaction and infidelity are associated and that the influence of infidelity on relationship satisfaction is greater for women than for men

Translated from German...

Relationship Satisfaction and Infidelity: One Connection, Two Directions. Christiane Bozoyan & Claudia Schmiedeberg. KZfSS Cologne Journal of Sociology and Social Psychology, Apr 9 2020. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11577-020-00660-9

Summary: How do unfaithful behavior in a relationship and satisfaction relate to the partnership? At first, the influence of relationship quality on loyalty behavior seems plausible: the more dissatisfied a partner is in a relationship, the more likely he or she is to seek external relations. However, this does not rule out the possibility that the quality of the partnership or its assessment may also change from the perspective of the perpetrator, e.g. due to conflicts and marital crises triggered by infidelity, or to reduce feelings of cognitive dissonance. Using fixed-effects models based on data from the relationship and family panel pairfam over the observation period 2008 to 2016, we examine both possible longitudinal-average modes of effect with a 1- and 2-year interval between the measurement times. It turns out that there are interactions between the two factors, with the impact of infidelity on relationship satisfaction in women being greater than in men. While the relationship between relationship satisfaction and infidelity risk is rather low, it is shown that the risk of going abroad increases significantly when the long-term orientation in the relationship decreases.

Abstract: How are unfaithful behavior and relationship satisfaction connected? It seems plausible that relationship quality has an influence on unfaithfulness: the less satisfied a partner is in a relationship, the more he or she will look for external relations. However, this does not exclude that relationship quality changes after the infidelity episode, for example, due to conflicts and marriage crises triggered by the unfaithfulness or to reduce feelings of cognitive dissonance. Using fixed-effects models based on data from the German Family Panel pairfam during an observation period from 2008 to 2016, we investigated both causal pathways with a longitudinal design and measurement points 1 or 2 years apart. We show that relationship satisfaction and infidelity are associated and that the influence of infidelity on relationship satisfaction is greater for women than for men. Although the association between relationship satisfaction and risk of infidelity is relatively low, it is shown that the risk of being unfaithful increases sharply if long-term commitment to the relationship decreases.