Adult Children's Forgiveness of Parents' Betrayals

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish whether adult children's commitment, trust, and relational satisfaction are differentiated by their forgiveness stage (i.e., Stage 1, “Impact;” Stage 2, “Definition;” Stage 3, “Moving On”) in response to a parent's act of betrayal. Participants included 61 adult children who completed an online survey. Adult children's commitment, trust, and relational satisfaction were highest in the third stage of forgiveness. Future research should specifically analyze the messages exchanged between the parent and adult child to better understand the progression through the stages.

Keywords:

• Betrayal
• Commitment
• Forgiveness
• Relational Satisfaction
• Trust

Notes

Note. Means in each row sharing subscripts differ significantly.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maria Brann

Maria Brann (Ph.D., University of Kentucky, 2003) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV.

Christine E. Rittenour

Christine E. Rittenour (M.A., West Virginia University, 2004) is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE.

Scott A. Myers

Scott A. Myers (Ph.D., Kent State University, 1995) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV.