An Experimental Examination of the Effects of Communicative Infidelity Motives on Communication and Relational Outcomes in Romantic Relationships

Abstract

This study examined the effects of pretransgression relational characteristics and communicative infidelity (CI) motives on anticipated posttransgression relationship outcomes. Participants (N ¼ 215) answered questions assessing investment, satisfaction, quality of alternatives, commitment, and perceived partner uniqueness (PPU) before responding to 1 of 5 CI scenarios, followed by assessments of forgiveness and dissolution or continuance decisions. Results revealed differences in posttransgression outcomes based on both sex and the pretransgression assessments, but not as a result of the partner's motive for committing CI. Additionally, one CI motive (i.e., sexual depression) moderated the relationship between pretransgression PPU and posttransgression discussion of the offense.

El perdón ante transgresiones en las relaciones interpersonales

“…Violar cualquiera de estas reglas en las que se basa la amistad puede valorarse como una transgresión y conducir a la ruptura de la relación (Fehr, 1996). Aun siendo así, el proceso del perdón en el contexto de las relaciones de pareja ha sido el más estudiado debido a que el vínculo emocional existente en este tipo de relaciones es mayor que el que pueda existir en otro tipo de relación (Dillow, Malachowski, Brann y Weber, 2011). Finkel et al (2002) proponen cuatro tipos de categorías en las que pueden producirse las transgresiones en el seno de las relaciones interpersonales íntimas: a) violación de la norma de la monogamia, es decir, la pareja ha sido infiel emocional o físicamente, o ha podido exhibir falta de compromiso; b) violación de las normas de dependencia, esto es, cuando uno de los miembros de la pareja muestra un comportamiento celoso o posesivo; c) violación de las normas de privacidad, o en otras palabras, cuando un miembro de la pareja comparte información privada de la pareja con los demás, vulnerando la intimidad de la misma; d) violación de las normas de decencia, es decir, cuando un miembro de la pareja miente o engaña al otro, le insulta, le avergüenza en público, o es crítico/a con él/ella.…”

Unforgiveness Motivations in Romantic Relationships Experiencing Infidelity: Negative Affect and Anxious Attachment to the Partner as Predictors

“…Of the many betrayals that can occur within the context of romantic relationships, infidelity is considered the most severe and threatening to the stability of the relationship (Dillow et al, 2011; Beltrán-Morillas et al, 2015). This is typically considered an act of unforgivable betrayal, given the high expectations of loyalty and commitment that people hold for their partners (Watkins and Boon, 2016; Fincham and May, 2017) and the time and effort invested in preserving their relationships (Dillow et al, 2011; Fife et al, 2013). In other words, people usually acquire a relational commitment with their partners (i.e., they share property, experiences, time, children, etc.…”

“…In other words, people usually acquire a relational commitment with their partners (i.e., they share property, experiences, time, children, etc. ), so they do not expect their partners to engage in acts of intolerable betrayal, such as infidelity (e.g., Dillow et al, 2011; Watkins and Boon, 2016). However, not all types of infidelity are likely to affect people in the same way, given the wide variety of extradyadic behaviors that can be considered unfaithful (Thompson and O’Sullivan, 2016a).…”

Extradyadic Communication with Friends about Negative Relational Events in Romantic Relationships: Development of a Measure and Implications for Friendship and Romantic Relationship Functioning

“…Further, across several studies, results have indicated that PPU was a relatively better predictor of communicative and relational outcomes than IM variables immediately following a transgression, by significantly predicting these outcomes when IM variables did not (Dillow et al, 2011(Dillow et al, , 2012. Thus, in addition to IM components as indicators of relational quality, the current dissertation included partner perceptions in the form of PPU's ability to predict extradyadic communicative behavior when discussing romantic relationship problems.…”

“…Partners' pre-transgression ratings of PPU in romantic relationships are predictive of post-transgression conflict communication, nonverbal immediacy, and termination decisions (Dillow et al, 2012) as well as communicative responses and forgiveness (Dillow, Malachowski, Brann, & Weber, 2011). More specifically, pre-transgression PPU has positively predicted accommodating conflict communication (i.e., a prosocial response based on concern for other) and increased nonverbal immediacy behaviors, and has negatively predicted competitive conflict communication (i.e., an antisocial response based on concern for self) and desire to exit the relationship following both hypothetical (i.e., infidelity) and actual (i.e., flirting) relational transgressions (Dillow et al, 2012).…”