Forgiveness and Gratitude: Links Between Couples’ Mindfulness and Sexual and Relational Satisfaction in New Cisgender Heterosexual Marriages

The association of mindfulness with couples’ relational and sexual satisfaction may be mediated by forgiveness and gratitude. Although forgiveness and gratitude have individually been shown to play a role in couples’ relational and sexual satisfaction, we use an integrated model. This study included 1,360 couples recruited through a nationwide two-stage cluster stratification. Using an actor–partner interdependence model, we found significant indirect effects (β = 0.01, 0.08, p <.01), indicating that forgiveness and gratitude mediated many of the associations between couples’ mindfulness and their sexual and relational satisfaction. This may provide useful information for clinicians and therapists when addressing marital issues.