Emotional divorce is one of the most covert yet damaging forms of marital breakdown, with serious consequences for the psychological well-being of couples, children, and the family structure (Ghadimi et al., 1400). In this type of divorce, although the formal marital relationship persists, the emotional bond, affective connection, and effective communication between spouses are severely weakened (Al-Shahrani & Hammad, 2023; VandenBos, 2013). Psychological research identifies early maladaptive schemas (EMS) or life traps as a significant cause of this phenomenon; cognitive-emotional patterns rooted in childhood that manifest in adult relationships, particularly marital relationships, through perceptual distortions and cognitive biases (Young & Klosko, 2003; De Rozario & Pilkington, 2021). Conversely, certain protective factors may play a neutralizing or moderating role in this context. Among the most important of these are resilience and religiosity. Resilience refers to an individual’s capacity to adapt to life stressors and pressures and plays a significant role in maintaining relationship stability (Hamkins, 2019). Similarly, religiosity as a spiritual and normative resource can provide a supportive framework for coping with marital challenges (Vermullen, 2023). However, in the domestic research literature, the simultaneous moderating role of these two variables in the relationship between EMS and emotional divorce has rarely been examined. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the moderating role of religiosity and resilience in this relationship among married educators in the city of Qom.
Method
This study is descriptive-correlational in nature and applied in purpose. The statistical population consisted of married educators in Qom during the 1402-1403 academic year. A sample of 200 individuals was selected through convenience sampling, and data were collected using four validated psychometric instruments: the Young and Klosko (1994) Life Traps Questionnaire, the Pourhossein and Bidast (1393) Emotional Divorce Questionnaire, the Connor and Davidson (2003) Resilience Scale, and the Khodayari et al. (1397) Religiosity Assessment Questionnaire. After controlling for outliers and incomplete data, the data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and hierarchical regression. Statistical indices included the coefficient of determination, beta coefficients, and the t-test to examine the significance of moderating effects in the Baron and Kenny model. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 26, with a significance level set at 0.01.
Findings
The findings indicated that EMS had a positive and significant relationship with emotional divorce, meaning that as the severity of early maladaptive schemas increased, the level of emotional divorce also increased. On the other hand, resilience had a negative and significant relationship with emotional divorce and was able to independently predict a portion of the variance in the criterion variable. In the hierarchical regression analysis, in the first step, the inclusion of EMS in the model explained approximately 19% of the variance in emotional divorce. In the second step, with the addition of resilience, the model’s coefficient of determination increased to 26%. In the third step, with the inclusion of the interaction term (EMS × Resilience), the coefficient of determination reached 36%, indicating the moderating effect of resilience. The effect size for this change, based on Cohen’s suggested index, was small to moderate and statistically significant.
Regarding religiosity, although a negative and significant relationship was observed between this variable and emotional divorce, religiosity alone was not a strong predictor of emotional divorce. However, in the third step of the analysis, the interaction effect of religiosity × EMS was added to the model, resulting in a significant increase in the coefficient of determination (from 20% to approximately 23%). This finding indicates that religiosity, as a moderating variable, was able to reduce the effect of EMS on emotional divorce.
Conclusion
The findings suggest that EMS, by creating cognitive distortions, predispose individuals to enter the cycle of emotional divorce. Conversely, resilience as a cultivable psychological resource and religiosity as an internalized spiritual capital can curb this dysfunctional cycle and reconstruct the path of marital relationships. These findings have important implications for psychotherapists, family counselors, educational policymakers, and cultural institutions. Interventions focusing on enhancing resilience and strengthening deeper components of religiosity can serve as effective tools for preventing emotional family breakdown. Given the cultural context of Iran and the specificity of the study sample (married educators in Qom), it is recommended that this model be validated in other social groups and with mixed methods to pave the way for broader interventions.