Investigating the Causes of Marital Infidelity in Married Women and Men in Iran: A qualitative Meta- Synthesis study

Extramarital relationship is the establishment of any relationship with a third party without the knowledge of the spouse. The aim of this study was to combine the results of qualitative research conducted in the field of infidelity and extramarital relations in men and women in a meta synthesis method. The research method was qualitative meta synthesis from the perspective of Sandlowski and Barroso. After asking the research question, systematic search was performed based on Persian and English keywords from internal databases such as SID, Magiran, Noormagz, and external databases such as Pubmed, Google scholar, Scopus from 2002 to 1400. 61 qualitative articles were extracted. Some of these articles were deleted due to inconsistency in content, irrelevant research method and duplication. Finally, 14 articles were reviewed. The meta synthesis results showed that three categories of basic(14 concepts) contextual(12 concepts) and intervening(19 concepts) factors are directly and indirectly involved in extramarital relations. contextual and intervening factors may be the premise of the contextual factors in the development of marital infidelity, also the contextual factor is not only influenced by other factors but also plays a decisive role in infidelity. In affair and infidelity, a set of factors play a role, each of which can play a decisive role in the occurrence of them. By identifying these factors and developing an educational package appropriate to each of the causes, effective action can be taken to prevent extra marital.Keywords: Meta synthesis, Infidelity, Extramarital relations