Adult attachment and forgiveness of the former partner in the context of divorce-separation

Abstract

Background: In the context of understanding the adaptation to divorce-separation, the relevance of forgiveness has been highlighted, because it is related to a better post-separation adaptation to this life transition. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between attachment and forgiveness towards the former partner in divorced-separated people, and secondarily, to examine the moderating role of sex in this association. Method: A sample of 490 participants was evaluated, who completed self-report measures of romantic attachment and forgiveness of the former partner. Results: The analyzes, performed using structural equation modeling, indicate that only attachment anxiety was associated with lower levels of forgiveness to the former partner, but not attachment avoidance, and this relationship operated in a similar way for men and women. Conclusions: Unlike the studies carried out in ongoing relationships regarding the link attachment-forgiveness, our results expand previous evidence, showing that in the specific context of divorce-separation, anxiety but not avoidance of attachment would be associated with lower levels of forgiveness.