Breaking Promises in a Relationship – How to Deal with Broken Promises in a Relationship

Long-lasting relationships are frequently founded on mutual trust and respect, providing a sense of security for both you and your spouse. Breaking commitments in a relationship, on the other hand, may have a detrimental influence on trust and can sometimes permanently harm a relationship if done frequently enough.

So, what happens if one of you or your partner breaks a promise you made to each other?

You’ll discover more about broken promises in this article, including the repercussions, common causes, and how to deal with their effects on your relationship.

When a promise isn’t kept, what occurs next?

One of the most severe effects of breaking commitments to your spouse is that they are more likely to lose faith in you, which may sometimes be irreversible.

After all, trust is essential in determining how strong and long-lasting a tie between two people may be, especially in non-romantic relationships. Trust is even more significant among couples, especially if they want to make things work. According to Jeffry Simpson, a social psychology professor at the University of Minnesota, trust is an essential feature of relationships and one of the critical components of attachment security.

According to him, trust determines how successfully you and your spouse can deal with any disputes that arise throughout your relationship. After all, in a relationship, broken promises may lead to trust difficulties, which can influence not just your connection with your spouse but also your other interpersonal interactions. Anxiety, despair, and even post-traumatic stress disorder have been related to a lack of trust (PTSD).

Why do individuals make promises that they don’t intend to keep?

Why do individuals break commitments in the first place since broken promises have such a destructive impact on relationships? People breach pledges to their spouses for various reasons in this situation. A few examples are carelessness, a difference in views, commitment concerns, and unrealistic expectations.

A person may make promises they know they won’t be able to keep in some instances, not because they don’t regard or respect you, but because they’re going through a difficult period. When you or your spouse breach a commitment you made to each other, what should you do? How do you handle it, and how does it affect your relationship? With that in mind, here are some suggestions to assist you and your spouse deal with the consequences of breaking commitments and overcoming them.

1. Take a moment to consider the broken promise.

It’s wise to think about the broken promise before you or your spouse label each other as someone who doesn’t keep their word. For instance, you may ask yourself, “Was the promise realistic?” or “was it truly vital to you or them to maintain it?”

2. Together, come up with solutions.

Breaking commitments in a relationship can be damaging, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do something about it. So, in addition to explaining why either of you did what you did, you and your spouse should use this time to consider potential love solutions to this problem and how to avoid it from happening again.

You may set up procedures, for example, to guarantee that neither of you agrees to something you can’t completely commit to. You may also talk about the ramifications if it happens again. This will not only assist you in establishing boundaries with your partner, but it will also assist you in gradually regaining that lost trust.

 3: Don’t forget to forgive, but don’t forget to forget. 

People make promises all the time, and they don’t always follow through. However, this does not make them horrible people because everyone makes errors. So, after you and your spouse have agreed on what happened, you can begin the healing process by forgiving each other.

On the other hand, forgiving does not always imply forgetting, especially if the commitment was essential to both of you. Of course, this does not mean harbouring resentment toward your partner. Instead, it entails making them accountable for their acts, as well as the other way around.

Accountability is essential for recovering lost trust, particularly in interpersonal interactions. It might be not easy to re-establish the relationship’s stability if you can’t hold each other accountable for your behaviour.

4: Moving ahead, practise honesty.

It’s great if you and your spouse create an honesty policy as you go forward from this occurrence to avoid being labelled as someone who doesn’t follow their promise. You can avoid making promises you can’t keep and reclaim lost trust by being honest.

Even if you’ve already agreed but realised you won’t be able to fulfil, your word, being honest can help you avoid causing long-term harm to your relationship. While your spouse will most certainly be dissatisfied, they will most likely value your honesty much more.

5: What should you do if you don’t follow through on a promise?

Breaking a promise, whether intentionally or unintentionally, can damage someone’s faith in you, so you’ll need to make efforts to rebuild the connection. However, you must first own your error and explain why you failed to keep your commitment to your spouse.

After that, you should show honest regret for your conduct and take efforts to make amends. Finally, if you want to express your remorse and regret your acts, it’s ideal if you don’t break any more commitments in your relationship.