When the Love is Gone: Religious Coping Strategies for the Well-Being of Selected Catholic Women Who had Experienced Marital Infidelity in the Philippines.

Marital infidelity is widely regarded as an important concern across cultures with multidimensional effects-physical, emotional, psychological, and social. It challenges societal norms, undermines trust within families, and can have far-reaching consequences on the well-being of the betrayed spouse. This study explores how the different religious coping strategies influenced the coping and healing process caused by marital infidelity. It explores the in-depth experience of selected Catholic Filipino women whose husbands cheated. It draws inspiration from their narratives of how they faced, struggled with, and recovered from the painful consequences of their respective spouses' betrayals. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the transcripts of their interview elicit three major themes: the ever-faithful God to the rescue, social support as a stress-buffering antidote, and meditation and retreats as powerful tools to enhance mental and spiritual health. These findings suggest that the person's religiosity can serve as an effective coping strategy in facing marital infidelity. The study contributes to the growing literature on religiosity and marital coping, offering insights that may benefit those navigating similar experiences and encouraging a renewed engagement with their spiritual life as a means to overcome life's challenges.