The Role of Parental Infidelity Experience and Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance in the Relationship Between Parentification and Relational Ethics

This study investigates the moderating role of parental infidelity experience in the association between parentification and relational ethics, while controlling for attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance. The dependent variable of this study is relational ethics, while the independent variable is parentification. Experiences of parental infidelity serve as the moderator variable, and attachment anxiety and avoidance are included as control variables. The sample consisted of 230 adult women aged 19–69, all residing in Türkiye. After obtaining approval from the institutional ethics committee, data were collected online in 2025 using measures included the Personal Information Form, the Filial Responsibility Scale-Adult Version, the Relational Ethics Scale, and the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory-II. The results indicated that parentification did not significantly predict relational ethics. However, women who experienced both parentification and parental infidelity had significantly lower relational ethics scores. These findings suggest that parental infidelity experience plays a moderating role in the relationship between parentification and relational ethics. Attachment anxiety, entered as a control variable, showed a strong and significant negative association with relational ethics, whereas attachment avoidance was not significantly related to relational ethics. Overall, the findings are consistent with the existing literature and contribute to the literature, particularly by extending the understanding of relational ethics within horizontal relationships. Furthermore, the findings are expected to provide guidance for practitioners by highlighting key factors that influence relational ethics in marital and couple counseling.