Identification of Effective Conditions on Infidelity among Married Men: A Grounded Theory Study

Nowadays, based on casual evidence, marital infidelity is one of the threatening factors to marital life which can result in divorce. The present study aimed to identify the effective conditions leading to infidelity among married men in Ahvaz city.
This qualitative study was conducted using grounded theory method as an exploratory research method. In this study, 15 married men were included using purposive sampling method and theoretical saturation criteria. Data were collected using semi-structured interview.
After data analysis, the effective conditions leading to marital infidelity among married men were classified into the three main categories including causal conditions (low levels of marital commitment, emotional dissatisfaction, sexual dissatisfaction, sexual sensation seeking, effort to earn respect, and sexual boredom), contextual conditions (having premarital sex, peoples interference, living apart from spouse, having infidelity background in spouses relatives, having an unsuccessful marriage, and lack of religious beliefs) and intervening conditions (existence of unfaithful peers, business trip, alcohol consumption, type of job, good financial status, drug addiction, as well as addiction to communication and technology, and positive attitude towards infidelity).
Marital infidelity is not dependent merely on personal and interpersonal factors, but a set of factors are involved in this phenomenon.