Abstract:
The study examined the cognitive and behavioral attitudes of Filipino young adults
towards cheating in committed relationships. The study sought to find the young adults’
general concept of cheating, behaviors that are considered cheating, and the attributes of these
behaviors that made them cheating. Previous studies on the subject tackled only evaluative
attitudes and how the young adult would supposedly act towards the cheating. This study,
however, also included data on the actual ways that the young adult behaved in response to
being cheated. Convenience sampling was used to arrive at 15 male participants and 15
female participants identified through referrals. The participants’ age range was 18-26 years.
And all have experienced being cheated by his/her partner in a committed relationship. An in-
depth interview was conducted with each participant to gather individual cognitions and
behaviors regarding cheating in committed relationships. The study used a descriptive
research design. Common themes were extracted from the interview data and clustered
according to similarities in concept. Notable differences of attitudes between the sexes were
also highlighted. The details regarding themes were discussed along with quotations from the
interviews. The results revealed betrayal of trust and breach of exclusivity/ commitment as the
general concept of cheating among Filipino young adults. The data gathered also generated 5
clusters of behaviors considered by the participants as cheating. Moreover, the general action towards the cheating partner is confrontation. Furthermore, the cheating leads to immediate or
eventual break up of the relationship. The results also support past studies’ finding that
females are less expected to cheat and that they are more likely to give the relationship
another chance. Additionally, young adults of today attribute relativity to the concept of
commitment and exclusivity in relationships, which could be due to the increasing liberality
of today’s social situation. Likewise, the present day’s technological situation can be
accounted for the existence of ‘technological cheating”. Overall, there is more commonality
than differences in the attitudes of the sexes; although there are some areas where males and
females looked at cheating differently. Further study on this subject is recommended along
with the use of additional qualitative and quantitative data gathering procedures.
