Emotionally Stable, Extraverted, Conscientious, and Unambivalent: Iranian Women Successfully Navigating Divorce Adjustment

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to explore the extent to which the combination of the Big Five personality traits and adult attachment styles are associated with a broad array of divorce adjustment (DA) indicators. A total of 200 Iranian divorced women took part in the study. Participants completed a series of self-rating questionnaires covering socio-demographic, the Big Five, adult attachment styles, and indicators of DA. The results showed that higher levels of the Big Five (with neuroticism reverse-coded) were collectively associated with higher levels of feeling of self-worth (FSW), disentanglement of love relationships (DLR), social self-worth (SSW), rebuilding of social trust (RST), lower levels of symptoms of grief (SOG), and feelings of self-anger (FSA). Higher levels of secure attachment (and lower levels of ambivalent attachment) were associated with higher levels of FSW, DLR, RST, and lower levels of SOG, and FSA. The role of Iranian culture on post-DA is discussed.