Marital infidelity and Betrayal Experiences: The Role of executive functions and Religious Coping Strategies in Predicting Divorce of Women

Abstract

Objective: Infidelity means engaging in sexual or romantic relations with a person other than one's significant other, breaking a commitment or promise in the act. Marital infidelity is a very painful phenomenon that can lead to divorce. This study was conducted with the aim of the role of cognitive flexibility and religious coping strategies in predicting the desire for divorce of women with experience of infidelity. methods: The research method was descriptive-correlation. The statistical population included all women with experience of infidelity and referring to Tarannom-e-Vesal counseling center  in Mashhad in 2021 that 89 people were selected by convenience sampling. The instruments used were Divorce Attitude Questionnaire (DTS), Cognitive Flexibility Questionnaire (CFI) and Religious Coping Questionnaire (RCOPE). Pearson correlation test, multiple regression and SPSS-22 software were used to analyze the data. Results: The results of the correlation test showed that there is a negative and significant relationship between the desire for divorce with cognitive flexibility and positive religious confrontation and a positive and significant relationship between the desire for divorce and negative religious confrontation. Conclusion: Also, the results of regression analysis showed that cognitive flexibility and religious coping strategies together explain 34.8% of the variance of the desire to divorce. According to the findings, education and intervention in improving cognitive flexibility and religious coping strategies can be suggested as an effective method to reduce the desire for divorce.