Relationship counsellors attempt to isolate the issues surrounding a failing relationship to better understand and help the affected couple.
Research on lying and infidelity has previously existed as separate topics. Starting from this point of research inadequacy, this study explores the factors that motivate partners who engage in infidelity to lie about their behaviour.
A new tool, the Motivations for Lying about Infidelity Scale (MLIS) was developed and tested for reliability in assessing how important four motivations for lying about infidelity are to parents and non-parents.
A sample of 62 people was obtained for this study. Using t-tests and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests, the research further investigated how demographic identifiers influenced the importance of the four motivations for lying about sexual infidelity (children, partner, society, and wealth).
The results showed that parents were more highly motivated by considerations for children, society, and wealth to lie about infidelity than non-parents, while the latter were more influenced by considerations for their partners than the former. Parents were significantly motivated to lie about infidelity by children and wealth than the non-parents.
Being in an existing marriage significantly influenced partners to lie about their infidelity behaviour motivated by children and wealth. As relationship counsellors help clients resolve their relationship issues, the results of this study are likely to impact their professional assessment of how socio-demographic factors influence their clients’ behaviours.
