You have full access to this open access article. It is not the main intention of this paper to prove that people are unfaithful, neither does it present the scale of the phenomenon, as it is hard, for objective reasons, to obtain reliable data on the subject. The text analyses the motives for, and consequences of infidelity from two different perspectives: sociobiology and the sociology of emotions, while gender constitutes the axis of analysis.
Regardless of whether we will explain infidelity as motivated by human nature, drives, desires and genes, or treat it as a social construct, the argumentation for infidelity remains different for men and for women.
What is more, both subdisciplines bring into light different consequences of infidelity for representatives of either sex. One of the leading modern theoreticians of evolutionism, Maybard Smith, while analyzing the reasons behind sexual selection Smith, , showed that females can be either coy or fast in their sexual choices, while males in turn may adopt the strategy of either the faithful or the philanderer Dawkins, , p.
A society in which all the females are coy and all the males are faithful is a perfect society of exemplary spouses and partners. However, statistics reveal that our society is far from such an ideal. Infidelity has made its way into our customs and everyday life, inspiring literature, film and theatre. One can analyze infidelity from either the biological or cultural point of view. To put it differently: sexual strategies are often seen as behaviors stemming from human nature, and therefore considered through the prism of biology and human genetics.
On the other hand, our sexual choices are constructed and conditioned, mostly towards gender roles, by the hierarchic order of norms and values acquired in the process of socialization. Each current is based on different explanations regarding the causes and consequences of infidelity. For the purpose of this paper, infidelity has been analyzed from the perspective of sociobiology and sociology of emotions, while gender constitutes the axis of analysis.
