Understanding the relationship between gender and extradyadic relations: The mediating role of sensation seeking on intentions to engage in sexual infidelity

This study investigated the well-established finding that males are more likely than females to engage in extradyadic relations by seeking to determine if the personality trait sensation seeking mediates the relationship between gender and sexual extradyadic behaviors. A total of 174 participants, aged 17–36 years, indicated the extent to which they intended to engage in a hypothetical sexual extradyadic behavior (i.e., kiss or casual sex) and completed the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS-4). Multiple linear regressions revealed that initial gender differences in sexual extradyadic intention (β = −.17, p < .05) no longer accounted for significant variability when sensation seeking was controlled for (β = −.09, p > .10). Sobel and bootstrapping tests further demonstrated that sensation seeking fully mediated the aforementioned relationship between gender and extradyadic intention. Discussion presents two perspectives that help explain the results and offers suggestions for future research.