The Lack of Satisfactory Relationships as the Contextual Cause of Extramarital Relationships in Women: A Qualitative Study

Given the increase in extramarital relationships and subsequent increase in the number of divorces, the present study aimed to study the contextual factors for extramarital relationships in women.
This study was conducted using a qualitative method based on the grounded theory. To this end, all women involved in extramarital relationships residing in Yazd were considered as the research population. A total number of 40 women involved in extramarital relationships were selected through snowball sampling and purposive sampling and were interviewed. The data collected through the interviews were then analyzed using a theoretical coding technique.
A total of 58 concepts (codes) were identified in open coding and 14 subcategories were extracted in axial coding. Besides, the contextual factors for extramarital relationships were divided into four main categories including emotional and behavioral gaps, unbalanced sexual relations, immature personality, and the evoking social environment. Finally, the lack of satisfactory relationships emerged as a core category.
Based on the findings, it can be concluded that extramarital relationships in women can be considered a multifactorial phenomenon that is formed by the absence of satisfactory individual, marital, and social relationships.