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The purpose of this study was to examine the complex process adults traverse
in their passage through divorce and in their establishment of post-divorce
intimate relationships. The goal of this work was to describe how adults interpret
their divorce experience, particularly in terms of how it connects with their
ideas about intimacy and post-divorce intimate relationships.
Four theoretical frameworks guided this study. Social constructionism provided
a framework for understanding that reaction to a divorce may be impacted by
language, in terms of the explanations an individual makes, by social interchange
with others, and by the cultural meanings of marriage and divorce that have
influenced a person's thinking and perceptions. Attribution theory contributed
a systematic approach to understanding how people may construe their divorce
in ways that may damage trust, promote a sense of mastery and optimism regarding
future relationships, or encourage creative change. Attachment theory provided
a conceptual basis for examining the interplay between stability and change
in adult conceptualizations of intimate relationships, processes that underlie
how adults cope with changing interpersonal situations. Finally, theories of
loss and renewal offered a conceptual basis for understanding how reactions
to loss evolve over time, and enter post-divorce relationships.
Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 21 divorced men
and women. Analysis of data was guided by the research questions and structured
by a phenomenological approach to the analysis of themes and variations of themes
found in the interviews. Peer review and triangulation of data were used to
ensure trustworthiness in the findings.
This study contributes new understandings about the connection between divorce
experiences and post-divorce intimacy. Three conclusions can be drawn from this
study. First, data analysis revealed divorce served consistently as a catalyst
for interpretation and personal growth. An important component of this interpretive
endeavor was the social context within which divorce occurred. Because divorce
still carries some stigma in our society, divorce provided a challenge to create
positive meanings from this experience.
Second, the idiosyncratic understandings developed through the interpretive
process shaped adults' post-divorce perceptions and experiences in intimate
relationships. From the attributions made regarding causes of divorce, these
adults claim to have made deliberate changes in communication patterns, interactions,
attitudes, and expectations from self and partner in intimate relationships.
Third, during this process, some fundamental shifts in mental representations
occurred. Changes were linked to gender, with women viewing themselves as more
assertive in relationships, and men viewing themselves as more egalitarian and
responsible for relationship maintenance.
