We applied a narrative identity approach to the study of romantic infidelity. In Study 1, participants provided narratives of the moment they discovered their partners' infidelity. In Study 2, participants were prompted for narratives of their unfaithful actions. In both studies, measures of personality traits, forgiveness, empathy, and self‐esteem were administered. Narratives were coded for themes of redemption (bad beginnings, positive endings) and exploration (engaging with the experience's emotional implications). After controlling for relevant covariates (e.g., story length), participants who formed redemptive stories of their partner's infidelity evinced higher levels of forgiveness and lower levels of empathy (Study 1), whereas participants who disclosed redemptive stories about their own infidelity demonstrated decreased forgiveness (Study 2). Across studies, exploratory narratives corresponded positively with conscientiousness.

中文翻译：

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故事的两面：浪漫不忠的叙事

我们在叙事中采用了身份认同的方法来研究浪漫的不忠行为。在研究1中，参与者提供了当他们发现伴侣不忠时的叙述。在研究2中，提示参与者叙述其不忠行为。在两项研究中，都对人格特质，宽恕，同情和自尊进行了测量。叙述以救赎（糟糕的开端，积极的结局）和探索（与体验的情感含意）为主题进行编码。在控制了相关的协变量（例如故事长度）之后，形成了关于伴侣的不忠行为的救赎故事的参与者表明，原谅的水平较高，同情的水平较低（研究1），而那些发表有关自己的不忠行为的救赎故事的参与者则表现出减少的宽恕（研究2）。在所有研究中，探索性叙述与尽职调查呈正相关。