Kung ano ang puno, siya ang bunga? : the effect of parental infidelity on young adults’ attitudes towards intimate relationships

Abstract

There are a lot of articles and journals that identify the effects of parental infidelity on the betrayed partner, but few tackled on the effects on children. The growing number of infidelity cases that destroyed the Filipino families is disturbing. Infidelity has become a serious discourse in the family structure. It has been one of the reasons for broken marriages, as well as broken families. This study will serve as one of the researches that focused on the effect of parental infidelity on young adult children in the Philippine context where divorce is prohibited by the law and the church. Even if a legal separation did not take place, the children’s experience of sharing the burden with the family is detrimental to their emotional well-being. Studies (Koski, 2001; Spence, 2012; Fagan & Churchill, 2012) suggest that parental infidelity plays a major role in the fragmented views on intimacy and relationships. The children may suffer distorted views on the importance of commitment which is a factor to long-lasting relationships alongside with doubts and mistrust. In this study, the researcher sought to determine the effect of parental infidelity on young adults’ attitudes towards intimate relationships. Using a sequential explanatory method, 154 respondents who experienced parental infidelity and 154 respondents who did not experience parental infidelity were gathered using snowball sampling and time location sampling, respectively. The respondents are 18-25 years old enrolled in state universities in Metro Manila. The researcher hypothesized that there is a significant relationship between parental infidelity and young adults’ attitudes towards intimate relationships, and that young adults who experienced parental infidelity tend to have negative attitudes towards intimate relationships. Data were analyzed through BALAGTAS: The effect of parental infidelity on young adults’ attitudes towards intimate relationships BALAGTAS: The effect of parental infidelity on young adults’ attitudes towards intimate relationships| | There are a lot of articles and journals that identify the effects of parental infidelity on the betrayed partner, but few tackled on the effects on children. The growing number of infidelity cases that destroyed the Filipino families is disturbing. Infidelity has become a serious discourse in the family structure. It has been one of the reasons for broken marriages, as well as broken families. This study will serve as one of the researches that focused on the effect of parental infidelity on young adult children in the Philippine context where divorce is prohibited by the law and the church. Even if a legal separation did not take place, the children’s experience of sharing the burden with the family is detrimental to their emotional well-being. Studies (Koski, 2001; Spence, 2012; Fagan & Churchill, 2012) suggest that parental infidelity plays a major role in the fragmented views on intimacy and relationships. The children may suffer distorted views on the importance of commitment which is a factor to long-lasting relationships alongside with doubts and mistrust. In this study, the researcher sought to determine the effect of parental infidelity on young adults’ attitudes towards intimate relationships. Using a sequential explanatory method, 154 respondents who experienced parental infidelity and 154 respondents who did not experience parental infidelity were gathered using snowball sampling and time location sampling, respectively. The respondents are 18-25 years old enrolled in state universities in Metro Manila. The researcher hypothesized that there is a significant relationship between parental infidelity and young adults’ attitudes towards intimate relationships, and that young adults who experienced parental infidelity tend to have negative attitudes towards intimate relationships. Data were analyzed through determining frequencies, as well as association with the use of Chi-Square Test of Association and Independent Sample T-test. In-depth interviews were conducted to support the findings of the quantitative data. The results suggest that there is a significant relationship between parental infidelity and young adults’ attitudes towards intimate relationships. However, the study does not affirm that these young adults have negative attitudes towards intimate relationships. From the data obtained, most of the young adults have ambivalent attitudes towards intimate relationships.