In 1998, Laura Yamhure Thompson was a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Kansas. As she considered areas of research for her dissertation and future career, she asked the director of her graduate program, C. R. Snyder, for advice. At the end of their meeting, Dr. Snyder handed Laura Yamhure Thompson a copy of a call for applications for grants to study forgiveness, and he suggested that she consider it.
The grants were being awarded by The John Templeton Foundation, which had begun A Campaign for Forgiveness Research. This campaign was a competition intended to spur scientific study of forgiveness. Under the leadership of Everett L. Worthington, Jr., Ph.D., Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Ruby Bridges Hall, and Robert Coles, M.D., the John Templeton Foundation and other donors eventually contributed over 7 million dollars to this campaign.
After her conversation with Dr. Snyder, Laura Yamhure Thompson found it impossible to sleep that night. The topic was so interesting, uplifting, and profound to her that she wrote well into the next day about her thoughts regarding a psychological model and definition of forgiveness. When she presented her ideas to Dr. Snyder, he, in his characteristically optimistic and magnanimous manner, suggested that the two of them apply for a three-year grant to study forgiveness.
C. R. Snyder and Laura Yamhure Thompson named their proposed research program The Heartland Forgiveness Project. In 1998, A Campaign for Forgiveness Research awarded The Heartland Forgiveness Project a three-year grant, which was subsequently extended for a fourth year. The funds for the grant were provided by the John Templeton Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, and other donors. Lesa Hoffman joined the Heartland Forgiveness Project in 2000. She assisted with statistical analysis and research design. Her quantitative expertise was invaluable to the project.
The Heartland Forgiveness Project was a program of research that was designed to study a model of forgiveness using a new measure of forgiveness, the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS). The HFS and the results of six studies from the Heartland Forgiveness Project were published in the Journal of Personality in April of 2005.
The Model and Definition of Forgiveness
Learn more about the model and definition of forgiveness upon which the HFS is based.
About the HFS
Learn more about the HFS.
HFS Citation and Abstract
See the full citation and abstract for the 2005 HFS article published in the Journal of Personality.
History of the Heartland Forgiveness Project
In 1998, Laura Yamhure Thompson was a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Kansas. As she considered areas of research for her dissertation and future career, she asked the director of her graduate program, C. R. Snyder, for advice. At the end of their meeting, Dr. Snyder handed Laura Yamhure Thompson a copy of a call for applications for grants to study forgiveness, and he suggested that she consider it.
The grants were being awarded by The John Templeton Foundation, which had begun A Campaign for Forgiveness Research. This campaign was a competition intended to spur scientific study of forgiveness. Under the leadership of Everett L. Worthington, Jr., Ph.D., Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Ruby Bridges Hall, and Robert Coles, M.D., the John Templeton Foundation and other donors eventually contributed over 7 million dollars to this campaign.
After her conversation with Dr. Snyder, Laura Yamhure Thompson found it impossible to sleep that night. The topic was so interesting, uplifting, and profound to her that she wrote well into the next day about her thoughts regarding a psychological model and definition of forgiveness. When she presented her ideas to Dr. Snyder, he, in his characteristically optimistic and magnanimous manner, suggested that the two of them apply for a three-year grant to study forgiveness.
C. R. Snyder and Laura Yamhure Thompson named their proposed research program The Heartland Forgiveness Project. In 1998, A Campaign for Forgiveness Research awarded The Heartland Forgiveness Project a three-year grant, which was subsequently extended for a fourth year. The funds for the grant were provided by the John Templeton Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, and other donors. Lesa Hoffman joined the Heartland Forgiveness Project in 2000. She assisted with statistical analysis and research design. Her quantitative expertise was invaluable to the project.
The Heartland Forgiveness Project was a program of research that was designed to study a model of forgiveness using a new measure of forgiveness, the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS). The HFS and the results of six studies from the Heartland Forgiveness Project were published in the Journal of Personality in April of 2005.
The Model and Definition of Forgiveness
Learn more about the model and definition of forgiveness upon which the HFS is based.
About the HFS
Learn more about the HFS.
HFS Citation and Abstract
See the full citation and abstract for the 2005 HFS article published in the Journal of Personality.