The mediating role of marital offense forgiveness in the prediction of marital satisfaction by attachment injuries

The research aims to examine the mediating role of forgiving offense in marriage in the prediction of marital satisfaction by attachment injuries of married individuals. The variables of the study are attachment injuries, marital satisfaction and marital offense forgiveness. In the study, attachment injuries, marital satisfaction and marital offense forgiveness levels of individuals were examined in terms of gender, education level, economic status, marriage type, marriage duration and number of children. The study group of the research consisted of 316 (220 women; 96 men) married individuals. Personal Information Form, "Marital Attachment Injury Scale (MIIS)", "Marital Life Scale (MLLS)" and "Marital Offense Forgiveness Scale (MARFS)" were used to collect data. The data obtained as a result of the research were analyzed using SPSS 25 package program. Since the data obtained from the study group showed normal distribution, t test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation analysis for relational analysis, and regression analysis for predictive analysis were used in the analysis of the data. The mediation analysis of the study was analyzed based on PROCESS Hayes Model 4. According to the results obtained from the study, it was concluded that the total score and trauma sub-dimension of attachment injuries differed according to gender and income status, and the attachment dimension differed according to the duration of marriage and the number of children. It was concluded that marital satisfaction differed according to gender, duration of marriage and number of children, resentment-avoidance sub-dimension of forgiveness differed according to gender, income status and duration of marriage, and forgiveness sub-dimension differed according to gender and income status. Considering the mediation analyses, it was concluded that resentment-avoidance and forgiveness variables had significant and partial mediation effects in predicting marital satisfaction of attachment injuries attachment sub-dimension, and resentment-avoidance and forgiveness variables had significant and partial mediation effects in predicting marital satisfaction of trauma sub-dimension. In the light of the findings obtained as a result of the research, it is recommended that mental health professionals and researchers working in the field should give importance to the studies on developing forgiveness in order to prevent the negative effects of attachment injuries experienced by couples.