Should I Stay or Should I Go After Infidelity: Pathways to Relationship Preservation After an Affair Amongst...

Infidelity is one of the most devastating events in a relationship, yet many couples choose to reconcile and stay together in its aftermath. There is scarce research on how likely such an outcome is amongst individuals motivated to achieve it as well as on pathways to and predictors of relationship preservation, defined as remaining in the original relationship. This study administered the Pathways Through Infidelity Survey to individuals who have had an affair ("commitment-breaking partners") and whose partner has had an affair ("betrayal-experiencing partners") recruited through the social media profiles of three mental health professionals enabling post-infidelity recovery and reconciliation. Analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and Classification and Regression Trees (CART). Analyzable responses were obtained from 1151 commitment-breaking and 2278 betrayal-experiencing partners. The strongest predictors of relationship preservation were love for commitment-breaking partners and formalization of the relationship (marriage, engagement, long-term relationship) for betrayal-experiencing partners. Relationship preservation after infidelity was found to follow neither a linear, nor uniform, nor a necessarily complex trajectory. A variety of pathways to it were identified, some brief and direct and others long and convoluted. Amongst individuals accessing social media contents about recovery and reconciliation after infidelity, relationship preservation is likely and predictable.