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Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
Communication, Professional
Date of Award
5-2013
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Andrew Herrmann
Committee Members
Amber Kinser, Patrick Cronin
Abstract
When children grow up in a Christian home they learn fidelity is essential in a relationship. The inconsistency of biblical messages and parental infidelity is identity altering for children. In this study I use autoethnography to explore how my parents’ infidelity collided with religious teachings to shape my identity and influence my interpersonal relationships. I also use narrative interviewing to identity the ways my siblings were affected by the same experience and how such discrepancies in our home influenced their identities. The theory of narrative inheritance (Goodall, 2005) serves to be a source of empowerment as well as a contributing factor to definitions of infidelity. Familial roles are illuminated as I explore how my siblings and I negotiated cognitive dissonance that resulted from the conflicting narratives of Christianity and parental infidelity.
Document Type
Thesis - restricted
Recommended Citation
Hunniecutt, Jeni R., "Infidelity and Identity: Cheating, Children, and the Church" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1165. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1165
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.