PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Theresa Beard

MA-Research
December 1996

The Jealousy Grieving Process: Response to Infidelity

    The study addressed two major questions: whether the response to infidelity by a partner was best captured by the concept of a five-phase process and how certain variables moderated this response.  The phases were postulated to be shock, recrimination, anguish, accommodation and recovery.  The moderating variables were the following: respondent characteristics, relationship variables and context of affair.
    Thirty individuals who had discovered that their partners had sex with at least one other person completed an anonymous mail-in survey.  Results indicated that half the subjects had not yet recovered from the affair.  The only moderating variable to distinguish between those who “got over” the affair and those who were considered “not yet over” it was the secure attachment style measure.  For those who had recovered, evidence was found for a three-phase process: shock, recriminations and recovery.  Different profiles of the experience for the two groups were discussed.

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