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Staying Together After Infidelity: An Exploration of the Decision-Making Process of Recovery From the Perspective of the Injured Partner.
Open AccessInfidelity impacts a significant number of people with potentially devastating consequences. Many people choose to stay with their partner following infidelity, but there is limited research on the decision-making processes in affair recovery from the perspective of the injured partner. The current study explores this phenomenon through semi-structured interviews with 11 injured (i.e., did not have an affair) partners who chose to remain with their partner after experiencing infidelity. Nine main themes were identified: (a) stance on infidelity, (b) sharing with others, (c) reasons to stay, (d) apology, (e) social support, (f) sexual intimacy expectations, (g) rebuilding trust, (h) therapy, and (i) other resources. These findings extend existing research on affair recovery by intentionally giving voice to the decision-making experiences of injured partners in affair recovery. Considerations for clinicians working with individuals and couples, such as understanding the reasons to stay in the relationship and renegotiating relationship boundaries, are discussed.
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