Emotional Divorce: Similarities and Differences According to the Position Occupied

Abstract

Emotional divorce is the individual emotional closure of the conjugality cycle. This study aimed to identify common and distinct aspects of the individual emotional divorce process from the different positions held by individuals in decision-making for separation/legal divorce. It is a qualitative research, with narrative approach and cross-sectional data. Twelve men and twelve women, regardless of sexual orientation, divorced or not from their first marriage, participated in the study. The Snowball sampling technique was used. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews. Sociodemographic questionnaire and interview scripts were used. Data analysis was performed through thematic analysis. Four positions held by participants in the decision-making for separation/legal divorce were chosen: initiators, non-initiators, spokesperson initiators, and active non-initiators. From the four positions, the similarities and differences in the process of emotional divorce in relation to the feelings commonly experienced by those who experience divorce were listed: fear, relief, sadness, anger, hope and personal growth, coping strategies, and the resumption of love life. Significant similarities were found in the process of elaborating emotional divorce between initiators and active non-initiators and between non-initiators and spokesperson initiators.