Date

12-7-2023

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

Scott D. Edgar

Keywords

Infidelity, attachment bond, health, attachment injury, trauma, growth

Disciplines

Counseling | Education

Abstract

This transcendental phenomenological study aims to examine African American women’s posttraumatic growth experience after infidelity without compromising health-related issues. This phenomenon of PTG after cheating needs to be thoroughly analyzed and added to the literature. The research questions are: (1) How do African American women describe their personal growth experiences after marital infidelity? (2) How do African American women describe characteristics that were [e.g., personality, character, fortitude, sense of identity] vital for their resiliency post-infidelity? and (3) How do African American women describe the changes in their assumptive worldview [e.g., trust, safety, attachment, religious faith] because of marital betrayal? Some individuals experience growth after infidelity; this study will seek to answer why some grow after infidelity trauma rather than succumb to health-compromising issues. The answer to this question will add to the body of research and help mental health professionals implement strategies to help individuals and couples during recovery. The theories guiding this study are the attachment theory by Bowlby and Ainsworth, the emotionally focused couple’s theory (EFCT), directed by Johnson & Greenberg, and systems and family systems theory researchers von Bertalanffy and Bowen. The research data is a transcendental phenomenology design of eight African American women with posttraumatic development after infidelity in Bloomington, IL.

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