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Predicting changes in unforgiveness following a relational transgression in couples
Mireille Jean1, Susan D Boon2, Audrey-Ann Lefebvre3
1Department of Psychology, University of Montreal.
Summary
Unforgiveness in relationships decreases over time. Attachment anxiety and avoidance, and perceived severity predict initial unforgiveness levels, but severity also predicts faster decline.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Relationship Science
Background:
- Relational transgressions violate relationship norms, potentially causing unforgiveness.
- Unforgiveness has cognitive-evaluative, emotional-ruminative, and offender reconstrual dimensions.
- Predictors and temporal evolution of unforgiveness after transgressions remain understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate individual (attachment insecurities) and contextual (transgression severity, recency, other hurtful events) predictors of unforgiveness dimensions.
- To examine the longitudinal evolution of unforgiveness over one year in couples experiencing a transgression.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study with 245 couples completing online questionnaires at five time points (0, 3, 6, 9, 12 months).
- Assessed attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, subjective severity, transgression recency, other hurtful events, and three dimensions of unforgiveness.
- Latent growth curve modeling analyzed predictors and temporal changes in unforgiveness.
Main Results:
- All three dimensions of unforgiveness decreased significantly over the 12-month study period.
- Attachment anxiety predicted higher baseline emotional-ruminative unforgiveness.
- Attachment avoidance predicted higher baseline levels across all three unforgiveness dimensions.
- Higher perceived transgression severity predicted higher baseline unforgiveness but also a steeper decrease over time.
Conclusions:
- Unforgiveness naturally diminishes over time in couples following a relational transgression.
- Attachment styles significantly influence initial levels of unforgiveness.
- Perceived severity impacts both the initial intensity and the rate of decrease in unforgiveness.
- Findings offer insights into the dynamics of unforgiveness in close relationships.
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