Personality, Relationship Quality, and Infidelity: Extradyadic Infatuation as Predicted by Dark and Light Triad Traits, Sociosexuality and Relationship Satisfaction

Individual and relational factors have been found to facilitate infidelity, yet the psychological dynamics linking personality traits and relationship quality to extradyadic infatuation – the cognitive, affective, and motivational preoccupation with someone other than the romantic partner – remain largely unexplored. The aim of our cross-sectional study was to explore the predictive roles of different individual factors (i.e., Dark and Light Triad traits and sociosexuality) and one relationship characteristic (i.e., relationship satisfaction) on extradyadic infatuation. A sample of 303 Romanians in a current committed relationship, aged between 19 and 64 ( M = 37.82 , SD = 11.41), filled in measures of Dark and Light Triad traits, sociosexuality, relationship satisfaction, extradyadic infatuation, and personal and relationship demographics. Multiple regression analyses indicated that higher levels of humanism, psychopathy, and sociosexuality, along with lower levels of faith in humanity, Machiavellianism, and relationship satisfaction, significantly predicted extradyadic infatuation, controlling for gender, age, Kantianism, and narcissism. These findings indicate that extradyadic infatuation arises from a complex interplay of various traits and relationship dynamics. It is not solely attributed to socially undesirable characteristics; instead, it also involves traits that are generally considered positive.