Investigating Existential Crises of Unfaithful Men and Examining the Effectiveness of Indigenous Counseling Based on Marital Infidelity Tendency

the present study aimed to investigate the existential crises of unfaithful men and examine the effectiveness of indigenous counseling based on marital infidelity tendency.

the research had a exploratory mixed-method design and included both qualitative and quantitative phases. The interpretive phenomenology method was used in the qualitative phase. Eighteen unfaithful men of Shahindej city, Iran, were selected by purposive sampling and interviewed in the qualitative phase. The data were analyzed by Colaizzi’s method. As a result, six categories (i.e., delay contemplation, existential emptiness avoidance, not accepting fate, pathological value change, sexual and desire-based love, and struggling with existential loneliness). Then, the initial model of counseling was designed based on these crises. The model matching method was used to evaluate the theoretical validity of the model. The model was given to 12 experts to confirm its face and content validity, and after approval, it was finalized in the form of 12 sessions. The single case method was used in the quantitative phase. three unfaithful men were purposively selected in the quantitative phase. The model was implemented in three baselines, intervention, and follow-ups. The data were collected by the Attitudes toward Infidelity Scale (ATIS) and analyzed by visual analysis, statistical and clinical significance.

The results revealed that the model significantly reduced marital infidelity tendency (p<0.01).

Therapists can use the model reduce the tendency to infidelity in the individuals or couples engaged in marital infidelity.