Forgiveness as a factor in marriage and in conflict resolution following an extramarital affair

This dissertation is the result of research studying the utilization of forgiveness to help achieve marital conflict resolution following an extramarital affair. The study consisted of interviews of married couples in Eastern Nebraska where at least one partner had been involved in an extramarital sexual relationship. These couples all decided to stay married after the affair was revealed. The interviews inquired as to why the couple stayed together, and how forgiveness was a factor in staying together and resolving conflict. The research study was a qualitative study aimed at developing a grounded theory of forgiveness following an extramarital affair. The study utilized principles of interviewing borrowed from ethnographic interviewing; questions were asked in a Socratic-questioning format. The computer program QSR NUDIST Version 3.0.4 was used to code and index the textual data. Forgiveness was a significant factor in couples staying together. Forgiveness was implemented both as a part of and as a result of the resolution of certain interceding conditions. These interceding conditions included, first of all, the couples\u27 motivations to stay in the marriage for various reasons, such as for financial, legal, or family reasons. Second, couples needed to develop a unique combination of strategies to implement forgiveness appropriately. These strategies included action, interaction, acceptance, repentance, and various other unique strategies. Third, couples needed to resolve the issues of trust, forgetting, and the passing of time. With the passing of these interceding conditions, couples were able to effectively utilize forgiveness to resolve marital conflict as a result of the affair. Literature review was used to validate concepts and relationships of the grounded theory. The findings helped develop a theory that not only provides a useful theoretical basis for further research, but also contains ideas that may be useful in developing clinical treatment with couples in similar situations