Communal Coping following Relational Transgressions: Perspectives of Third-Party Personal Network Members

Abstract

Following stressful experiences like relational transgressions, individuals often turn to members of their personal network for support. This study explored how third-party network members approach coping (communal vs. individual) with a transgressed individual. Fifty network members accompanied transgressed individuals to a communication lab where they completed a questionnaire assessing their perceptions and feelings about the transgression. Findings show that network members’ reports of communal coping with another person’s transgression experience are associated with feelings of hurt and anger, as well as unforgiveness towards the transgressor. This study expands communal coping research to understand the outcomes of communal approaches within stressors typically perceived as individual and suggests that effects of stressors and their subsequent coping behaviors ripple throughout personal networks.