رضا سروستانی

Infidelity is an important matter in marital relationships and it has undesired and deleterious outcomes for the family. This study aimed to investigate the lived experience of women in response to their husband’s infidelity. This study employed a qualitative descriptive-phenomenological method to examine women’s responses to their husband’s infidelity in marital life. Nine female participants were recruited using purposive sampling. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews and the data collection process continued until theoretical saturation. The data analysis showed 13 contributing themes related to women’s lived experience in response to the husband’s infidelity: (1) self-harm, (2) deciding to end the relationship, (3) threatening the husband to engage in mutual infidelity, (4) the disruption of normal life, (5) loss of belief in being unique, (6) feeling inferior and humiliated, (7) skepticism about religious beliefs and justice in the world, (8) losing self-confidence, (9) losing contact with the outside world, (10) self-blame, (11) distrust in the world, (12) losing the meaning of life, and (13) aggression and quarreling. The results showed that the women who experienced the infidelity of their spouse showed different reactions based on internal experiences and external reactions. Therefore, considering the effect of marital infidelity on personal and interpersonal relationships, it is necessary to know and understand these reactions.