This research paper presents an evaluation of adultery and how it is treated in the media. Incidence and prevalence of adultery are noted. The history of media coverage, values, attitudes, and beliefs, and current media coverage of adultery are discussed.
The National Opinion Research Center reports that 20 percent of American men and 10 percent of American women are not faithful in their marriages and gender is the most constant predictor of marital infidelity. Media reports cite higher percentages. Alfred Kinsey stated that around half of the men and a quarter of the women in his samples had committed adultery. Playboy asserted that 42 percent of the white middle class men and 25 percent of the white middle class women had participated in adultery. Cosmopolitan stated that 54 percent of married women have had at least one affair. The Hite Report concluded that 72 percent of married men committed adultery. Marriage and Divorce, in 1977, stated that 70 percent of all Americans are involved in an extramarital affair sometime during their marriage. The Janus Report on Sexual Behavior in America reports that a third of married American men and a quarter of married women have participated in marital infidelity. These statistics are not based on national probability samples and several are based on self-selected samples (Greeley 9-13).
Adultery is not associated with education, religious affiliation, or geographic region. Gender is the most consistent predictor of infidelity rates, however as the number of women in the work force increases, adultery rates for women are likely to increase. Differences between working and non-working women seems to be concentrated among those in their forties and fifties. It is estimated that with existing patterns, adultery rates for men will increase to 30 percent and for women they will increase to 15 percent (20 percent for working women) (Greeley 9-13).
Attempts are made to expl...