Transgression-Related Co-Rumination: Scale Validation and Prediction of Relational Outcomes

Michael Thai, Michael Wenzel, Tyler G. Okimoto

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Co-rumination refers to the extended and/or recurring discussion of issues in social relationships. The extant research tends to conceptualize co-rumination in terms of general interaction styles, commonly between individuals who act as a source of support for one another. Little work has examined co-rumination in conflict contexts, between victims and offenders, as an event-specific process to come to terms with wrongdoing. The present research develops and validates a new scale measuring three distinct approaches to transgression-related co-rumination: co-reflection, co-brooding, and co-avoidance. Within the context of close romantic relationships, we show that these new co-rumination scales are associated with conciliatory sentiments including victim forgiveness, offender self-forgiveness, and relationship commitment. This research highlights co-rumination between parties as an important mechanism to consider in the process of relationship repair.

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages12
JournalJOURNAL OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 28 Nov 2022

Keywords

  • Close relationships
  • Co-rumination
  • Forgiveness
  • Interpersonal transgressions
  • Self-forgiveness

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