Estranged and Unhappy? Examining the Dynamics of Personal and Relationship Well-Being Surrounding Infidelity

Although relationship theories often describe infidelity as a damaging event in a couple's life, it remains unclear whether relationship problems actually follow infidelity, precede it, or both. The analyses of dyadic panel data of adults in Germany including about 1,000 infidelity events showed that infidelity was preceded (but not followed) by a gradual decrease in relationship functioning in perpetrators and victims. There was little evidence of rebound effects in the aftermath of infidelity, with the exception of unfaithful women and individuals with lower initial relationship commitment who returned to the pre-event level of well-being or even exceeded it, providing support to the expectancy violation theory (vs. the investment model of infidelity). By showing that well-being starts to decline before infidelity happens, this study provides a differentiated view on the temporal dynamics of infidelity and well-being and contributes to the literature on romantic relationship dynamics and major life events.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2023

Erschienen:

2023

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:34

Enthalten in:

Psychological science - 34(2023), 2 vom: 18. Feb., Seite 143-169

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Stavrova, Olga [VerfasserIn]
Pronk, Tila [VerfasserIn]
Denissen, Jaap [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Discontinuous change models
Infidelity
Journal Article
Life events
Life satisfaction
Open data
Open materials
Preregistered
Relationship quality
Relationship satisfaction
Self-esteem

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 14.02.2023

Date Revised 25.02.2023

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1177/09567976221116892

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM348368887