Clinician’s perceptions of and emotional responses to online infidelity

Aim of the present study was to examine the degree to which mental health workers perceive twelve online partner behaviors as different types of infidelity and to examine the degree to which these behaviors evoke two types of jealousy, that is, fait accompli and anxious jealousy among mental. 248 heterosexual mental health workers filled out an online questionnaire describing twelve potentially unfaithful online partner behaviors, assessing perceptions of types of infidelity and types of jealousy. Results showed that participants viewed most partner behaviors consistent with a priori expectations regarding their sexual and emotional nature. Interestingly, 65% of the participants thought that a partner watching porn on the Internet did not engage in any form of infidelity. In addition, most scenarios evoked
more fait accompli jealousy than anxious jealousy. Age and gender differences are discussed, as well as implications of these findings for the treatment of jealousy