Trust Heals, Commitment Hurts: Disentangling Predictors of Coping with Interpersonal Betrayal Josiah Cameron Krieg School of Psychology The University of Adelaide December 2019 Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ii Table of Contents List of Tables and Figures .................................................................................................................... vi Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. xi Declaration ........................................................................................................................................... xiii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. xiv Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview of Forgiveness Research ............................................................................................... 2 1.2 Interpersonal Trust ......................................................................................................................... 4 1.2.1 Overview of trust research ...................................................................................................... 4 1.2.2 Links between trust and forgiveness ....................................................................................... 6 1.3 Commitment ................................................................................................................................ 10 1.3.1 Overview of commitment research ....................................................................................... 10 1.3.2 Links between commitment and forgiveness ........................................................................ 12 1.3.3 Does commitment increase distress? ................................................................................... 14 1.4 Other Outcome Variables ............................................................................................................ 16 1.4.1 Hurtfulness ........................................................................................................................... 16 1.4.2 Negative emotion .................................................................................................................. 17 1.4.3 Psychological tension ........................................................................................................... 17 1.4.4 Rumination ........................................................................................................................... 18 1.5 Why Study Trust and Commitment Together? ............................................................................. 19 1.6 Research Examining both Trust and Commitment in the Context of Forgiveness ....................... 21 1.7 Research Goals ........................................................................................................................... 25 iii Chapter 2: Study 1 ............................................................................................................................... 27 2.1 Method ......................................................................................................................................... 27 2.1.1 Participants ........................................................................................................................... 27 2.1.2 Procedure and measures ..................................................................................................... 28 2.2 Results ......................................................................................................................................... 40 2.2.1 Descriptive statistics ............................................................................................................. 40 2.2.2 Bivariate correlations ............................................................................................................ 42 2.2.3 Partial correlations ................................................................................................................ 42 2.2.4 Control analyses ................................................................................................................... 44 2.3 Study 1 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 49 Chapter 3: Theoretical Development ................................................................................................. 55 3.1 The Valuable Relationships Hypothesis....................................................................................... 55 3.2 Interdependence Theory .............................................................................................................. 58 3.3 The Mutual Cyclical Growth Model .............................................................................................. 59 3.4 The Risk Regulation Model .......................................................................................................... 61 3.5 Proposed Theoretical Explanation for Study 1 Findings .............................................................. 63 3.6 Explaining the Effects of Commitment ......................................................................................... 66 3.6.1 The indirect effect via relationship value ............................................................................... 66 3.7 Explaining the Effects of Trust ..................................................................................................... 67 3.7.1 The indirect effect via exploitation risk .................................................................................. 67 3.7.2 The indirect effect via attributions ......................................................................................... 67 3.8 Formal Statement of Hypotheses for Study 2 .............................................................................. 68 iv Chapter 4: Study 2 ............................................................................................................................... 69 4.1 Method ......................................................................................................................................... 69 4.1.1 Participants ........................................................................................................................... 69 4.1.2 Procedure and measures ..................................................................................................... 70 4.2 Results ......................................................................................................................................... 75 4.2.1 Descriptive statistics ............................................................................................................. 75 4.2.2 Bivariate correlations ............................................................................................................ 76 4.2.3 Partial correlations ................................................................................................................ 76 4.2.4 Mediation analyses ............................................................................................................... 78 4.2.5 Control analyses ................................................................................................................... 84 4.3 Study 2 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 86 Chapter 5: Study 3 ............................................................................................................................... 92 5.1 Explaining the Effects of Commitment through Mutuality of Dependence .................................... 92 5.2 Formal Statement of Hypotheses for Study 3 .............................................................................. 94 5.3 Method ......................................................................................................................................... 95 5.3.1 Participants ........................................................................................................................... 95 5.3.2 T1 procedure and measures ................................................................................................. 96 5.3.3 T2 procedure and measures ................................................................................................. 97 5.4 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 101 5.4.1 Descriptive statistics ........................................................................................................... 101 5.4.2 Bivariate correlations .......................................................................................................... 101 5.4.3 Partial correlations .............................................................................................................. 104 v 5.4.4 Mediation analyses ............................................................................................................. 104 5.4.5 Control analyses ................................................................................................................