Traumatic bonding in romantic relationships: The roles of psychological aggression and relationship contingent self esteem

This study aims to study the formation of traumatic bonding in the context of romantic relationships in order to better understand what makes people stay in abusive relationships. Traumatic bonding is defined as an intense emotional attachment that forms between a victim and an abuser, and is characterized by continuing emotional attachment to and preoccupation with the abuser as well as cognitive distortions that enable the victim to adapt to the situation. Psychological aggression and relationship contingent self-esteem were examined as possible factors that are related to the formation of traumatic bonding. 253 respondents between the ages of 18-40 years and have been in a romantic relationship for at least six months were recruited online to participate in data gathering. Both psychological aggression and relationship contingent self-esteem were positively correlated with the development of posttraumatic cognitive distortions while relationship contingent self-esteem was positively correlated with continuing emotional investment with one’s partner. Multiple regression was employed in order to study the strength and direction of the relationships of the variables. Results and implications of the study as well as recommendations for future research are discussed