Coping with infidelity: The moderating role of self-esteem

Abstract

Infidelity is one of the most damaging events individuals face in relationships. Given that a partner's infidelity poses serious threats to emotional and mental health, it is critical to understand what contributes to these consequences and to identify individual factors that might reduce the severity of the infidelity. In applying a stress perspective to infidelity, this study examined the links between negative cognitive appraisals, infidelity-related stress, and mental health outcomes, as well as the moderating effects of self-esteem on these associations, among a sample of 232 individuals who were recently cheated on. Analyses revealed that attributing causality and responsibility to the cheating partner was associated with greater infidelity-related stress, which in turn, was linked to heightened depression and anxiety symptoms. Further, moderation analyses identified self-esteem as an important dispositional protective mechanism. For those with high self-esteem, the effects of negative appraisals on infidelity-related stress, as well as infidelity-related stress on both depression and anxiety, were dampened. These findings reveal the importance of individuals’ perceptions of their partners’ infidelity, as well as their own their self-esteem, on the emotional and mental health toll of infidelity.