Structural Equation Modeling of Causal Relationships betweenPersonality Traits, Security Feelings, Self-Esteem, Extramarital Relationships, and the Mediating Impact of Media Consumptionamong Tehran Citizens

The present study aimed to model the structural relationships between personality traits, security feelings, self-esteem, and extramarital relationships, as well as the mediating impact of media consumption among Tehran citizens.

The present study is of applied type and in terms of timing has been of periodical type, and employed a correlational design based on structural equation modeling. The target population consisted of all married individuals in Tehran from 2023 to 2024 who referred to private and state counseling centers in the first six months of the year and sought counseling due to their spouse's extramarital affairs. A multistage random cluster sampling method was used to select samples. In this way, first of all, 50 centers in Tehran were identified, and from among these 50 centers, 30 counseling centers were randomly selected, in every center, 18 clients were selected as statistical samples. Altogether, 540 participants were selected. To  assess extramarital affairs; personality traits, security feelings, self-esteem, and media consumption rate; various questionnaires were used: The Commitment Violation Scale (CVD) by Drigotas et al. (1999) to assess extramarital relationships; The NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) to assess personality traits; The Security Scale (2009) to assess security feelingThe Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1965) to assess self-esteem; The Media Consumption Questionnaire by Mahmoudian, Koochani Isfahani, and Moghaddas (2015) to assess media consumption.

The results achieved via using the model indicated that personality traits had the most significant overall impact (-0.27) on extramarital relationships. The variable of personality traits showed a total impact (-0.27) in a reverse manner (direct) had an impact on extramarital affairs. The variable of security total impact (-0.22) reversely (direct) impacted the extramarital relationships.  Based on the model introduced in this research, the variance in extramarital relationships demonstrated an R-squared value of 0.821. In general, 82% of the variance of extramarital relationships has been forecasted based on the relationship between the variables of personality traits, security feelings, self-esteem; and media consumption rate. Finally, the structural equation modeling also confirmed the goodness of fit of the model, and experimental data of the research supports the conceptual model.

The study findings suggest that personality traits, security feelings, and self-esteem mediated by media consumption may predict extramarital relationships