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It's Just a Little Crush: Attraction to an Alternative and Romantic Relationship Quality, Breakups and Infidelity.

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Title: It's Just a Little Crush: Attraction to an Alternative and Romantic Relationship Quality, Breakups and Infidelity.
Authors: Belu, Charlene F., O'Sullivan, Lucia F.
Source: Journal of Sex Research. May2025, Vol. 62 Issue 4, p515-528. 14p.
Subjects: Infatuation, Sexual attraction, Relationship quality, Couples, Psychological distress
Abstract: Over the course of an intimate relationship, individuals will frequently encounter potential alternative partners and may in fact develop romantic or sexual attraction to them. It is unclear when a more distal attraction to a potential alternative (a "crush") is associated with impaired relationship quality to one's primary relationship. A growing body of work indicates that crushes are common among those in established, ostensibly monogamous relationships. Yet such attractions likely constitute a starting point for establishing new relationships, including through infidelity. This study was designed to help clarify whether and how extradyadic attraction is linked to compromised relationship quality for a primary relationship, infidelity, and breakup. Participants were 542 adults (22–35 years) in exclusive intimate relationships of at least three months' duration who reported an attraction toward a potential alternative. They were recruited online from crowdsourcing websites and social media to complete two surveys, four months apart. Path analyses indicated that greater attraction intensity was linked to lower relationship quality in one's primary relationship. Overall, few participants became romantically or sexually involved with their crush over the course of the study. However, lower relationship quality was linked to desire to engage in infidelity and primary relationship breakup four months later. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for other researchers examining maintenance of intimate relationships, educators who teach about attraction processes, as well as counselors supporting couples in distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Sex Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: It's Just a Little Crush: Attraction to an Alternative and Romantic Relationship Quality, Breakups and Infidelity.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Belu%2C+Charlene+F%2E%22">Belu, Charlene F.</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22O'Sullivan%2C+Lucia+F%2E%22">O'Sullivan, Lucia F.</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Infatuation%22">Infatuation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sexual+attraction%22">Sexual attraction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Relationship+quality%22">Relationship quality</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Couples%22">Couples</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychological+distress%22">Psychological distress</searchLink>
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  Data: Over the course of an intimate relationship, individuals will frequently encounter potential alternative partners and may in fact develop romantic or sexual attraction to them. It is unclear when a more distal attraction to a potential alternative (a "crush") is associated with impaired relationship quality to one's primary relationship. A growing body of work indicates that crushes are common among those in established, ostensibly monogamous relationships. Yet such attractions likely constitute a starting point for establishing new relationships, including through infidelity. This study was designed to help clarify whether and how extradyadic attraction is linked to compromised relationship quality for a primary relationship, infidelity, and breakup. Participants were 542 adults (22–35 years) in exclusive intimate relationships of at least three months' duration who reported an attraction toward a potential alternative. They were recruited online from crowdsourcing websites and social media to complete two surveys, four months apart. Path analyses indicated that greater attraction intensity was linked to lower relationship quality in one's primary relationship. Overall, few participants became romantically or sexually involved with their crush over the course of the study. However, lower relationship quality was linked to desire to engage in infidelity and primary relationship breakup four months later. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for other researchers examining maintenance of intimate relationships, educators who teach about attraction processes, as well as counselors supporting couples in distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Sex Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1080/00224499.2024.2310702
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 14
        StartPage: 515
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Infatuation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sexual attraction
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Relationship quality
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Couples
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      – SubjectFull: Psychological distress
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              Text: May2025
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              Y: 2025
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