Explaining the causal relationships between attachment styles and attitudes toward infidelity in women with traits of dramatic personality disorder: The mediating role of emotion regulation

Subject Areas : Psychology of couples

Ghazal Rojhan ¹ , Fatemeh Golshani ^{2 *}

1 - Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran and email address [e-mail]
2 - (Corresponding Author), Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran, [e-mail], tell: 09124702965

Received: 2025-04-14 Accepted : 2025-05-17 Published : 2025-10-07

Keywords: attitude towards infidelity, attachment style, dramatic personality, emotional regulation ,

Abstract :

© 2020 The Author(s). This work is published by family and health as an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted, provided the original work is properly cited.

Introduction: Due to the influential role of emotion regulation in dramatic personality disorder and the identification of variables affecting it, the present study aimed to explain the causal relationships between attachment styles and attitudes towards infidelity in women with dramatic personality disorder traits: the mediating role of emotion regulation.

Research Method: The research method was a correlational path analysis. The statistical population of the study included female students of Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, in 1403. The research sample consisted of 208 female students with traits of the HID who were selected through purposive sampling. The instruments of this study included the Whatley Infidelity Attitude Scale (2018), Hazan and Shaver Attachment Styles Questionnaire (1987), Garnevsky and Kraij Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (2006), and Ferguson and Nagy’s Dramatic Personality Disorder Questionnaire (2014). The research data were analyzed using path analysis and IMOS software version 24.

Findings: In general, the results showed that the relationship between secure attachment and attitude towards infidelity through reappraisal strategy and through suppression strategy is negative and significant. Also, using Bowen and Kenny's formula showed that the relationship between ambivalent attachment and attitude towards infidelity through reappraisal strategy and through suppression strategy (P=0.001) is positive and significant.

Conclusion: Emotional regulation strategies mediate the relationship between the research variables. Therefore, it is recommended that clinical psychologists and marriage counselors pay attention to the achievement of this research.

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