Editing Deception (section)

=== Deception and infidelity ===
{{Main|Infidelity}}
Unique to exclusive romantic relationships is the use of deception in the form of infidelity. When it comes to the occurrence of infidelity, there are many individual difference factors that can impact this behavior. Infidelity is impacted by [[Attachment theory|attachment style]], relationship satisfaction, [[Executive functions|executive function]], [[sociosexual orientation]], personality traits, and [[Infidelity#Gender differences|gender]]. Attachment style impacts the probability of infidelity and research indicates that people with an insecure [[Attachment theory|attachment style]] (anxious or avoidant) are more likely to cheat compared to individuals with a secure attachment style,<ref name=":15">{{cite journal |last1=DeWall |first1=C. N. |last2=Lambert |first2=N. M. |last3=Slotter |first3=E. B. |last4=Pond |first4=R. S. Jr. |last5=Deckman |first5=T. |last6=Finkel |first6=E. J. |last7=Luchies |first7=L. B. |last8=Fincham |first8=F. D. |s2cid=16982198 |year=2011 |title=So Far Away From One's Partner, Yet So Close to Romantic Alternatives: Avoidant Attachment, Interest in Alternatives, and Infidelity |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=101 |issue=6 |pages=1302–1316 |doi=10.1037/a0025497 |pmid=21967006 }}</ref> especially for avoidant men and anxious women.<ref name=":16">{{cite journal |last1=Allen |first1=E. S. |last2=Baucom |first2=D. H. |year=2004 |title=Adult Attachment and Patterns of Extradyadic Involvement |journal=Family Process |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=467–488 |doi=10.1111/j.1545-5300.2004.00035.x  |pmid=15605979 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Insecure attachment styles are characterized by a lack of comfort within a romantic relationship resulting in a desire to be overly independent (avoidant attachment style) or a desire to be overly dependent on their partner in an unhealthy way (anxious attachment style). Those with an insecure attachment style are characterized by not believing that their romantic partner can/will support and comfort them in an effective way, either stemming from a negative belief regarding themselves (anxious attachment style) or a negative belief regarding romantic others (avoidant attachment style). Women are more likely to commit infidelity when they are emotionally unsatisfied with their relationship whereas men are more likely to commit infidelity if they are sexually unsatisfied with their current relationship.<ref name=":6">{{cite journal |last1=Barta |first1=W. D. |last2=Kiene |first2=S. M. |year=2005 |title=Motivations for infidelity in heterosexual dating couples: The roles of gender, personality differences, and sociosexual orientation |journal=Journal of Social and Personal Relationships |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=339–360 |doi=10.1177/0265407505052440 |s2cid=145727447 }}</ref> Women are more likely to commit emotional infidelity than men while men are more likely to commit sexual infidelity than women; however, these are not mutually exclusive categories as both men and women can and do engage in emotional or sexual infidelity.<ref name=":6" />

Executive control is a part of [[executive functions]] that allows for individuals to monitor and control their behavior through thinking about and managing their actions. The level of executive control that an individual possesses is impacted by development and experience and can be improved through training and practice.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Diamond |first1=A. |last2=Lee |first2=K. |year=2011 |title=Interventions shown to aid executive function development in children 4 to 12 years old |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=333 |issue=6045 |pages=959–964 |doi=10.1126/science.1204529 |pmid=21852486 |pmc=3159917 |bibcode=2011Sci...333..959D }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Klingberg |first=T. |year=2010 |title=Training and plasticity of working memory |journal=Trends in Cognitive Sciences |volume=14 |issue=7 |pages=317–324 |doi=10.1016/j.tics.2010.05.002 |pmid=20630350 |s2cid=17438995 }}</ref> Those individuals that show a higher level of executive control can more easily influence/control their thoughts and behaviors in relation to potential threats to an ongoing relationship which can result in paying less attention to threats to the current relationship (other potential romantic mates).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pronk |first1=T. M. |last2=Karremans |first2=J. C. |last3=Wigboldus |first3=D. H. J. |year=2011 |title=How can you resist? Executive control helps romantically involved individuals to stay faithful |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=100 |issue=5 |pages=827–837 |doi=10.1037/a0021993 |pmid=21244181 |hdl=2066/99390 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> [[Sociosexual orientation]] is concerned with how freely individuals partake in casual sex outside of a committed relationship and their beliefs regarding how necessary it is to be in love in order to engage in sex with someone.<ref name=":7">{{cite journal |last1=Simpson |first1=J. A. |last2=Gangestad |first2=S. W. |year=1991 |title=Individual differences in sociosexuality: Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=60 |issue= 6|pages=870–883 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.60.6.870 |pmid=1865325 }}</ref> Individuals with a less restrictive [[sociosexual orientation]] (more likely to partake in casual sex) are more likely to engage in infidelity.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> Individuals that have personality traits including (high) neuroticism, (low) agreeableness, and (low) conscientiousness are more likely to commit infidelity.<ref name=":6" /> Men are generally speculated to cheat more than women, but it is unclear if this is a result of socialization processes where it is more acceptable for men to cheat compared to women or due to an actual increase in this behavior for men.<ref name=":8">{{cite journal |last1=Conley |first1=T. D. |last2=Moors |first2=A. C. |last3=Matsick |first3=J. L. |last4=Ziegler |first4=A. |last5=Valentine |first5=B. A. |s2cid=109937245 |year=2011 |title=Women, men, and the bedroom: Methodological and conceptual insights that narrow, reframe, and eliminate gender differences in sexuality |journal=Current Directions in Psychological Science |volume=20 |issue= 5|pages=296–300 |doi=10.1177/0963721411418467 }}</ref> Research conducted by Conley and colleagues (2011) suggests that the reasoning behind these gender differences stems from the negative stigma associated with women who engage in casual sex and inferences about the sexual capability of the potential sexual partner. In their study, men and women were equally likely to accept a sexual proposal from an individual who was speculated to have a high level of sexual prowess. Additionally, women were just as likely as men to accept a casual sexual proposal when they did not anticipate being subjected to the negative stigma of sexually permissible women as slutty.<ref name=":8" />