Narrative Analysis of Successful Couples’ Passage Through Sexual Infidelity Crisis and Reconstruction of Marital Intimacy

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the narratives of successful couples who passed through the crisis of sexual infidelity and to identify the narrative, emotional, and relational processes involved in reconstructing marital intimacy. This qualitative study was conducted using a narrative analysis approach. The participants included 24 individuals, namely 12 married couples living in Tehran, who had experienced sexual infidelity, continued their marital relationship, and reported relative reconstruction of trust and intimacy. Participants were selected through purposive criterion-based sampling, and recruitment continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews. Each interview lasted between 60 and 90 minutes and was audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and anonymized after obtaining informed consent. Data were analyzed using NVivo software through narrative coding, thematic interpretation, and constant comparison across participants’ accounts. Data analysis led to the emergence of five main categories: confronting the collapse of the previous marital narrative, interrupting secrecy and developing behavioral transparency, redefining responsibility and meaning without stabilizing blame, restorative dialogue and regulation of post-disclosure emotions, and gradual reconstruction of emotional and sexual intimacy. The couples’ narratives indicated that successful passage through sexual infidelity was not merely the result of forgiveness or forgetting, but rather a gradual process involving acknowledgment of harm, accountability by the unfaithful partner, expression of pain by the injured partner, renegotiation of relational boundaries, and the creation of a new meaning for continuing the marriage. The findings suggest that reconstructing intimacy after sexual infidelity becomes more possible when couples transform the crisis from a relationship-ending event into a turning point for redefining the relationship. Transparency, accountability, emotion regulation, safe dialogue, and gradual rebuilding of trust were central components of this process.