Life is Short, Have an Affair: Middle-age Women and Extra-Marital Affairs

• In Event: 347 - Regular Session. Sociology of Sexuality: Mature Women's Sexualities

Abstract

This research examines why women seek extra-marital affairs. We covertly monitor Internet conversations from a geographically diverse sample of 100 heterosexual, married, female users of the website AshleyMadison.com. Findings show that these women, aged between 35 and 45, seek affairs due to a lack of romantic passion and sex in their marriages; predominantly look for one person rather than multiple partners to have an affair with; and emphasize their happiness in their marriages, and do not wish to replace their husbands. Thus, despite harsh cultural opposition to non-monogamy, women on this website find infidelity a constructive method to have their sexual and romantic desires met while retaining their current marriages. This research therefore evidentially contests the popular assumption that affairs symbolize a lack of love for one’s partner.

Authors

• Matthew H. Rafalow, University of California-Irvine

• Matthew Ripley, University of Southern California

• Eric Anderson, University of Winchester