TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring Links between Online Infidelity, Mate Poaching Intentions, and the Likelihood of Meeting Offline
AU - Sharabi, Liesel L.
AU - Uhlich, Maximiliane
AU - Alexopoulos, Cassandra
AU - Timmermans, Elisabeth
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright 2021, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2021.
PY - 2021/7
Y1 - 2021/7
N2 - This study examines digitally enabled mate poaching on Ashley Madison, an online dating platform for extradyadic affairs. To explore mate poaching as a potential explanation for what drives users of Ashley Madison to transition their online relationships to offline encounters, we conducted a multinational survey of 1,676 users (88.5 percent male, Mage = 50.98). Participants provided open-ended data about their mate poaching objectives, which ranged from short-term sexual encounters to long-term sexual and emotional affairs and new exclusive relationships. Structural equation modeling showed that participants' attitudes toward online infidelity predicted whether they would consider meeting someone from the website in person. Mate poaching intentions also mediated the effect of attitudes toward online infidelity on the likelihood of meeting another user face to face in the future. The results extend evolutionary theories of mate poaching to the digital dating environment and demonstrate the value of these perspectives for explaining relationship initiation practices on infidelity websites.
AB - This study examines digitally enabled mate poaching on Ashley Madison, an online dating platform for extradyadic affairs. To explore mate poaching as a potential explanation for what drives users of Ashley Madison to transition their online relationships to offline encounters, we conducted a multinational survey of 1,676 users (88.5 percent male, Mage = 50.98). Participants provided open-ended data about their mate poaching objectives, which ranged from short-term sexual encounters to long-term sexual and emotional affairs and new exclusive relationships. Structural equation modeling showed that participants' attitudes toward online infidelity predicted whether they would consider meeting someone from the website in person. Mate poaching intentions also mediated the effect of attitudes toward online infidelity on the likelihood of meeting another user face to face in the future. The results extend evolutionary theories of mate poaching to the digital dating environment and demonstrate the value of these perspectives for explaining relationship initiation practices on infidelity websites.
KW - attraction
KW - evolutionary theory
KW - infidelity
KW - mate poaching
KW - online dating
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85110756393&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85110756393&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1089/cyber.2020.0563
DO - 10.1089/cyber.2020.0563
M3 - Article
C2 - 34171960
AN - SCOPUS:85110756393
SN - 2152-2715
VL - 24
SP - 450
EP - 456
JO - Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
JF - Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
IS - 7
ER -