A Study on the Attitudes, Reasons and Chances of Committing Infidelity ' Among Adolescent Relationships

Abstract

Culturally among Filipinos, the family and Church social institutions are responsible in shaping the attitudes, beliefs and morals of every individual. As a result, they are influential in relation to an individual's chances of committing infidelity. The Church, together with the family, work hand in hand in order to build a strong foundation for the society. But through the years, there seems to be a fast-growing threat that will surely contradict the morals of these two social institutions. This is the problem of infidelity among adolescent relationships. It is so alarming that infidelity now occurs not only with married couples but with adolescent relationships as well. Compared to traditional beliefs, adolescents especially men are now getting more liberated on the concept of infidelity. Men can commit infidelity more openly now that our society has accepted the concept as normal. The researcher wants to determine the attitudes, reasons and chances of committing infidelity among young adolescents and the effects of infidelity to society. Moreover, the specific objectives of the study are to determine the attitudes of Filipino male and female college students toward infidelity; to enumerate the reasons that lead to infidelity; to determine the influence of family and religion on an individual's chances of committing infidelity; to distinguish which between family and religion is more influential on an individual's chances of committing infidelity; to know the frequency of infidelity among adolescent relationships; and to determine the possibility of adolescents to commit infidelity in the future. This study shows how widespread infidelity is in adolescent relationships. This research also determines other reasons that may affect the adolescent's decision towards infidelity. Even though there are very clear rules and sanctions empowered by the Church and Family, there are still people who engage in such acts of infidelity among adolescent romantic relationships. The Church and the Family seriously condemn this immoral act. But on the contrary, there are still people who strongly disregard the stand of these two social institutions. The researcher studied100 Filipino college students ranging from 18-22 years old from the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of the Philippines Manila. The population was composed of 50 males and 50 females. They are referred to as the young adults (18-22 years old) who are in the late adolescence stage wherein they experience the period of exploration. The subjects are members of Roman Catholicism. The whole population of the subjects should have experience in mutual romantic relationships. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research design. This is to determine the influence of Family and the Church in an individual's decision towards infidelity. The gathering of data was done through library research, internet research and survey questionnaire research. The survey questionnaire research was written in English and contained questions about attitudes, reasons and chances of committing infidelity among adolescents. The study used a random sampling method. Questionnaires were given to Filipino college students who have had experience on adolescent mutual romantic relationships. The researcher concludes that despite the influx of liberal ideas that change the individual personalities of this generation, majority of the positive values opposing the act of infidelity still remain among young adolescents then helping preserve the moral fabric of our society. It is so alarming that with the total population of 100 respondents, a significant 67% admitted that they committed infidelity once, twice, thrice or even 4-5 times as compared to the 37%who never engaged in such act. This imposes a threat that may affect the moral fabric of the society if nothing would be done to solve the problem. In the present situation wherein the moral fabric of the society is weakened, the Family and Church must take its place in coordinating efforts of combating a social issue such as infidelity among adolescent relationships. The various sectors of our society most especially social institutions headed by the Family and Church must work in formulating creative solutions for the problem of infidelity.