Report on a case of sadism∗

While popular and psychoanalytic explanations of extramarital relations abound, no systematic sociological theory of such involvement has been presented to date. A partial theory of extramarital involvement is advanced in this paper. Based on the findings that the probability of involvement is related to socio‐economic status, the intensity of religious devoutness, residential background, premarital experience, the duration of marriage, level of marital satisfaction, and the degree of alienation, three propositions accounting for these relationships are set forth. On the basis of the theoretical propositions, the underlying dynamics of extramarital involvement are outlined and discussed.