Six studies regarding forgiveness are presented. The Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS), a self-report measure of dispositional forgiveness (with subscales to assess forgiveness of self, others, and situations) was developed and demonstrated good psychometric properties. Forgiveness correlated positively with cognitive flexibility, positive affect, and distraction; it correlated negatively with rumination, vengeance, and hostility. Forgiveness predicted four components of psychological well-being (anger, anxiety, depression, and satisfaction with life); forgiveness of situations accounted for unique variance in these components of psychological well-being. Forgiveness and hostility demonstrated equivalent, inverse associations with relationship duration, and forgiveness accounted for unique variance in relationship satisfaction, even when controlling for trust. Forgiveness level correlated positively with decreased negativity in statements written about transgressions in the present versus the past tense.

This empirical, quantitative and qualitative study of 58 grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors (21 men/37 women) sought a transgenerational “fingerprint” of Holocaust trauma. The study employed a pragmatic, integrative, quantitative, and qualitative approach including heuristic, Jungian, intuitive, and cognitive methods of inquiry to reveal the impact of exposures to the aftermath of Holocaust trauma. The study battery included a demographic survey and questionnaire containing a cultural complex scale (CCS), the Life Changes Inventory-Revised (LCI-R), Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS), the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2), and the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS). Clusters were established by self-selection from 9 criterion items defining response to the Holocuast. Cluster analysis established 3 clusters for ANOVA across all of the instrument subscales, and revealed clusters 2 and 3 marked “True” a criterion item that addressed transformation of the Holocaust. The CCS score across the three clusters (F = 13.89, p < .001) demonstrated that a higher CCS score was related to not choosing transformation. Responses to the 46 questions of the CCS were subjected to correlation and ANOVA. Significant correlations with the CCS were (a) HFS self forgiveness (p < .01) and forgiveness for situations out of one’s control (p < .05); (b) LCI-R Concern for Others (p < .001); (c) PDS Avoidance, Arousal, Arousal Symptom Severity (p < .01); and (d) STAXI-2 T-Ang/T scale (p < .01). This sample transgenerationally mirrored the intensity of their grandparents’ Holocaust experience ( p < .01). Linear regression revealed that as the CCS score increased, forgiveness decreased. Conclusions were that a post-Holocaust trauma manifested in response to witnessing the aftermath of Holocaust trauma in one’s family combined with knowledge of the physical history of the event could be quantified as a “fingerprint” in the absence of transformation. Participants in this study who had experienced transformation of post-Holocaust trauma manifested greater forgiveness than participants who had not transformed the trauma.

Addictive behaviors have long been known to be a significant problem within American culture, and it has been suggested that a lack of forgiveness plays a part in reinforcing the maladaptive coping effects of addictive behaviors. The purpose of this research project was to assess whether a lack of intrapersonal forgiveness is related to eating disorder symptomatology by conducting a mixed methods study. The sample included 51 female participants (Control Group [CG]; Anorexia Nervosa [AN]; Bulimia Nervosa [BN]) between the ages of 18 and 61, with all eating disorder participants being enrolled in one of two treatment facilities. Assessment involved the Eating Disorder Inventory-3, a modified version of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory, a subsection of the Heartland Forgiveness Scale, and the Mauger Forgiveness Scale. Included in each questionnaire packet were demographic items, as well as open-ended and Likert-type questions on the topics of eating disorders and forgiveness to allow each participant to use her own voice, while potential themes and meaning were explored. The statistical analyses included correlations, a MANOVA, and thematic coding of perceived influences on eating disorder symptomatology. The findings indicated an inverse relationship between forgiveness of the self and eating disorder symptomatology in both the AN and BN groups. Further, results indicated that eating disorder individuals differed significantly from the control groups across all measures of self-forgiveness. These findings suggest that forgiveness therapy could promote positive social change by increasing the efficacy of the treatment of eating disorders.

The relationship between stress and psoriasis severity was examined, with a focus on determining whether forgiveness is a moderator that buffers people from the potentially pathogenic effects of stress on psoriasis. Four specific hypotheses were tested: Stress (event and appraisal-based) and psoriasis (clinical severity and psoriasis-related quality of life) were predicted to be positively correlated for people lower in forgiveness, whereas stress (event- and appraisal-based) and psoriasis (clinical severity and psoriasis-related quality of life) were predicted to be uncorrelated for people higher in forgiveness. Whether there is a standard time lag between changes in stress and subsequent changes in psoriasis severity also was explored. There were three phases to the study. In Phase 1, participants completed five questionnaires: Life Experiences Survey, Perceived Stress Scale, Self-Administered Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, Dermatology Life Quality Index, and Heartland Forgiveness Scale. During Phase 2, participants completed two measures weekly for eight weeks: Self-Administered Psoriasis Area and Severity Index and Weekly Stress Rating Sheet. Phase 3 was a duplication of Phase 1. Participants were 128 adults who were diagnosed with psoriasis by a dermatologist. Approximately 90% of participants ( n = 115) completed both Phase 1 and Phase 3. As predicted, forgiveness was a statistically significant moderator of the relationship between event-based stress and clinical markers of psoriasis severity in both Phase 1, F(3, 101) = 3.32, p = .029, R2 = .09; and Phase 3, F(3, 99) = 3.58, p = .017, R2 = .10. Forgiveness was not found to moderate the relationship between (a) appraisal-based stress and the clinical severity of psoriasis, (b) appraisal-based stress and psoriasis-related quality of life, or (c) event-based stress and psoriasis-related quality of life. The combination of appraisal-based stress and forgiveness did account for a statistically significant amount of variance in both the clinical severity of psoriasis and psoriasis-related quality of life. Likewise, the combination of event-based stress and forgiveness did account for a statistically significant amount of variance in psoriasis-related quality of life. Phase 2 data did not reveal a standard time lag between changes in stress and subsequent changes in psoriasis severity.

This study examined the extent to which disappointment with God influenced the psychological and spiritual well-being of 160 churchgoers, and the potential mediating influences of relationship quality (spiritual maturity and relationship commitment) and dispositional forgiveness. Disappointment with God was positively related to depression and stress and negatively related to spiritual well-being, dispositional forgiveness, spiritual maturity, and relationship commitment. The latter 3 were negatively related to depression and stress and positively associated with spiritual well-being. The results suggest an explanation for why religious individuals disappointed with God tend to experience reduced well-being outcomes. Counseling implications are discussed.

This study extended forgiveness research by examining the relationships between narcissism, guilt, self-esteem, agreeableness, and forgiveness of others, self, and situations (N = 176). Narcissistic entitlement was negatively related, and Agreeableness positively related, to forgiveness of others. Narcissism and the other personality variables were related to self-forgiveness and forgiveness of situations. After controlling for self-esteem and shame, entitlement retained a unique relationship with forgiveness of others, and guilt retained a unique relationship with self-forgiveness. Agreeableness mediated the relationship between entitlement and forgiveness of others, and guilt and self-esteem mediated the relationship between narcissism and self-forgiveness. Although the distinction between forgiveness of self and situations requires clarification, it appears that narcissism and proneness to guilt have the potential to distinguish who forgives others and the self.

The relationship between belief in a just world (BJW) and forgiveness was examined in 275 participants. Personal BJW was positively related, and unjust world beliefs negatively related, to forgiveness of others. Personal and general BJW were each positively related to self-forgiveness. Gratitude mediated the relationships between personal BJW and forgiveness of others, and unjust world beliefs and forgiveness of others. Self-esteem mediated the relationships between personal BJW and self-forgiveness, and general BJW and self-forgiveness. It appears that BJW reflects a general disposition to respond to transgressions in a prosocial and adaptive manner, suggesting that the relationship between justice and forgiveness may not be as incompatible as what a first glance suggests. That is, people who are motivated by a concern for justice may also be more likely to possess a forgiving disposition.

It was hypothesised that forgiveness mediates the relationship between PTSD and hostility within a population of adult childhood abuse survivors. Of the three components of forgiveness-self, other, and situation-self and situation forgiveness were posited as potent mediators of the PTSD and hostility relationship. No differences in the mediational role of forgiveness in sexual versus physical abuse and female versus male abuse survivors were hypothesised. As posited, overall forgiveness mediated the PTSD-hostility relationship and the forgiveness of self and situation were strong mediators, the theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.

Offense-taking is defined as the perceived deprivation of what is rightfully due to a person. Using this definition, a trait self-report measure of the proneness to take offense was developed and validated. The 16-item Offense-Taking Scale (OTS) yielded Cronbach a of .86 and .87, and a test-retest correlation over a 4-week interval of .76. Factor analyses revealed the two components of sensitivity (degree of reactivity to information as being offensive) and severity (degree of disruption related to taking offense). Support for convergent validity emerged from the predicted positive OTS correlations with hostility and arousability, and negative correlations with forgiveness, hope, concerns about making positive impressions, and life satisfaction. Potential OTS applications are discussed.

In a sample composed of 162 young adults, the authors examined the generalizability of an orthogonal, 2-component model of forgiveness previously reported by Ross, Kendall, Matters, Rye, and Wrobel (2004), Furthermore, the authors examined the relationship of these two components with maladaptive personality characteristics as measured by the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP; Clark, 1993), with an emphasis on Five-factor model markers of personality. Using multiple measures of forgiveness, principal components analysis supported a 2-component model representing self-forgiveness and other forgiveness. Despite the independence of self-forgiveness and other forgiveness, zero order correlations with SNAP scales supported convergent more than discriminant validity. In contrast, hierarchical multiple regression analyses emphasized the discriminant validity of self-forgiveness and other forgiveness. Among indices of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Agreeableness, Negative Temperament (+) was the sole predictor of self-forgiveness. In contrast, Positive Temperament (+), Aggression (-), and Histrionic PD (-) were most associated with other forgiveness. Overall, these findings support the validity of these factors and highlight the importance of self-forgiveness in clinical assessment.

For many years there has been a shortage of research in the field of psychology pertaining to aspects of religiosity and marital functioning. More specifically, over the last 20 years only 18% of articles on religion and the family came from psychology journals (Mahoney, Pargament, Tarakeshwar, & Swank, 2001). Yet, both sociological and psychological research consistently indicates that 85-97% of the United States population believes in God (Brawer, Handal, Fabricatore, Roberts, & Wajda-Johnston, 2002; Hoge, 1996; Holden, 2001; Spilka, Hood, Hunsberger, & Gorsuch, 2003). The limited amount of past research on religion and marriage has yielded mixed results; however, a majority of these studies utilized a unidimensional measurement of religion which significantly restricts the complexity of this construct. In addition, past research has unsuccessfully integrated other variables that may contribute to the relationship between Christian religiosity and marital functioning. In light of the aforementioned findings, it appears appropriate that the influence of Christian religiosity on marital functioning should be assessed multidimensionally with the inclusion of possible intervening variables. Seventy-three heterosexual married couples that were in their first marriage and married for fewer than six years completed a demographic questionnaire and the following self report questionnaires: Dimensions of Religious Commitment; Heartland Forgiveness Scale; and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Using five steps, the individual answers to each of the questionnaires were computed to establish, separate variable scores of the couple’s strength, magnitude, and proportion. A path analytic model employing a series of stepwise regressions was utilized to analyze this data. Findings related to the strength of the couple revealed that ritualistic behaviors and moral attitudes toward relationships with others positively predicted overall forgiveness and forgiveness of others, which in turn led to increased marital functioning. These same aspects of Christian religiosity were also predictive of increased marital functioning when utilizing the magnitude of the couple scores. On the other hand, more personal aspects of Christian religiosity (e.g., devotionalism, experientialism, and particularism) were negatively predictive of aspects of forgiveness and marital functioning. Results of the study confirm the necessity for the inclusion of aspects of religiosity, as well as forgiveness, within the context of marital therapy when the goal is to improve marital functioning.

A substantial body of scientific literature has examined the relations among hostility, social support, and physical and psychological functioning. Typically, positive relations are observed between hostility and various problematic health concerns and negative relations are observed between social support and these same problematic health concerns. Hostility is commonly associated with decreased ratings of social support. The purpose of this study was to explore this relation between hostility and low social support, and determine whether three variables derived from the positive psychology literature (trait forgiveness, attributional style, and empathy) either moderate or mediate this relation. One hundred and fifty two female and 87 male undergraduate students completed the Cook Medley Hostility Questionnaire, the Social Support Questionnaire-6, the Heartland Forgiveness Scale, the Attributional Style Questionnaire, and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Results confirmed relations between several study variables. Hostility was significantly negatively related to forgiveness and social support quality, and significantly positively related to negative attributional style. Social support quality was significantly positively related to social support quantity, forgiveness, positive attributional style, and empathy. Forgiveness was significantly negatively related to negative attributional style. Although many relations consistent with the previous literature were observed, there was no support for any of these variables serving as moderators or mediators of the hostility-social support relation.

Executive functions are cognitive abilities that allow for more goal-oriented and autonomous behavior. The authors examined the relationship between self-rated executive functions and 3 positive personality attributes (satisfaction with life, gratitude, and forgiveness) in a nonclinical community sample. The authors used self-report scales (Executive Function Index, Heartland Forgiveness Scale “other” subscale, Satisfaction With Life Scale, and the Gratitude Questionnaire) to examine how executive functions related to the positive psychology attributes. After controlling for age, sex, and formal education, positive relationships emerged among gratitude, satisfaction, and executive function scales of motivational drive, empathy, and strategic planning. However, an inverse relationship emerged between impulse control and forgiveness, perhaps relating to cautiousness and suggesting finer distinctions between adaptive and maladaptive forms of forgiveness. These findings suggest common psychological and neurobiological substrates for executive functions and positive psychology attributes, warranting further, more direct biobehavioral research.

Forgiveness is a core value within Christianity and many other religions, but it is unclear whether valuing forgiveness results in individuals being more forgiving. This study examines the effect of Christian religious belief on forgiveness; tests the theoretical speculation that trust fosters forgiveness; explores the effect of cynicism, and examines age effects on forgiveness with a British sample. Christian clergy (N = 209), general population samples of Christians (N = 176), and a group with NRA (N = 65) completed the Heartland Forgiveness Scale measuring forgiveness of self, others, and situations, and measures of trust, cynicism, and the importance of forgiveness. The clergy score higher on total forgiveness, forgiveness of self, others, and situations; rate forgiveness as being more important; are more trusting; and are less cynical than the Christian and no religious affiliation (NRA) samples in the general population. While the Christian sample value forgiveness more than the NRA group, they are not more forgiving on any of the measures tested. Age is a significant predictor only for situational forgiveness. Trust is not a positive mediator of forgiveness for any of the participant groups, and neither is cynicism a negative mediator of forgiveness.

This study examined a multi-factorial model of forgiveness in which personality of the offended party, disposition to forgive, and context-specific factors were examined as predictors of forgiveness in a specific situation. A community sample of adults (N = 128) was recruited from Australia and New Zealand. Regression analyses indicated that individuals scoring higher on agreeableness and spirituality, and lower on neuroticism, reported a greater disposition to forgive. Disposition to forgive mediated the relationship between individuals’ agreeableness and their reported forgiveness in a specific situation. Factors that predicted unique variance in forgiveness of a specific offence were the offended party’s disposition to forgive, the value they placed on the relationship with the transgressor, positive offender actions (e.g., listening, apologising, providing compensation), and expecting the transgressor to repeat the offence. The findings support the idea that interpersonal forgiveness involves the interplay of factors that are both intrinsic and extrinsic to individuals

There are few studies examining the relationship between psychopathology and positive experiences and traits. Although initial studies suggest persons with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at increased risk for excessive social anxiety, there have been no studies to date evaluating how these conditions might interact to affect positive experiences and traits. Using self-report scales, informant ratings, and experience-sampling methodologies, we examined the association of social anxiety with well-being and character strengths in veterans with and without PTSD. Controlling for PTSD and trait negative affect, social anxiety was negatively related to global ratings of well-being and character strengths. Social anxiety also accounted for incremental variance in day-to-day well-being (i.e., daily affect balance, percentage of pleasant days, positive social activity, self-esteem, gratitude) over a 14-day assessment period. Although veterans with PTSD reported lower levels of global and daily well-being and character strengths than veterans without PTSD, a diagnosis of PTSD failed to exhibit unique relationships with these constructs. Building on a growing body of work, these data suggest that social anxiety is uniquely associated with disturbances in positive experiences, events, and traits. Our findings support the value of directly addressing social anxiety in the study and treatment of PTSD.

This chapter is designed to describe findings from a study with 226 individuals closely affected by the Oklahoma City bombing 7 years after the event and to provide personal examples of survivors’ thoughts and feelings during the recovery process. This chapter will offer some of the major findings relevant to the study of posttraumatic growth (PTG) with survivors of a terrorist attack. The responses given by subjects in this study tend to validate Tedeschi and Calhoun’s (1995, 2004) premise that cognitive processing is an essential component of building new schemas and acquiring PTG. The data also indicate that PTG and psychological distress can coexist and demonstrate how additional acts of terrorism can trigger significant distress and feelings similar to those experienced in the original trauma. The information derived from this study offers evidence of significant “constructive” PTG raises questions about the role of forgiveness in growth outcomes with survivors of a mass terror attack.

The present study investigated the relationship between religious faith and forgiveness in a sample of 196 college students. Students were asked to complete the Heartland Forgiveness Scale and the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire. Analyses of scores on both measures revealed a positive, significant correlation between these constructs, suggesting that there is a meaningful relationship between religious faith and the tendency to forgive. Implications and directions for further research are discussed.

As the fastest growing segment of the population today, seniors represent 12.4% of the population. Understanding what may positively contribute to life satisfaction among seniors is important for mental health practitioners especially as the baby boomers gray and as life expectancy increases. This study argued that forgiveness is a prosocial endeavor that may enhance positive affect and life satisfaction. A correlational design was employed to address possible relationships among life satisfaction, affect and forgiveness. Sixty-four community-dwelling elderly completed the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale and the Heartland Forgiveness Scale. The first null hypothesis found no significant correlation between life satisfaction and forgiveness and was not rejected. There were significant correlations between affect and forgiveness in the expected directions. Findings may increase an understanding of the role that forgiveness may play in resolving interpersonal hurts and increasing positive affect.

Day, L., & Maltby, J. (2005). Forgiveness and social loneliness. Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 139(6), 553-555.

For the most part, research into forgiveness centers on the role of forgiveness of others. However, within the forgiveness literature, there is a three-dimensional model of dispositional forgiveness (Yamhure-Thompson & Snyder, 2002) which, aside from forgiveness of others, identifies forgiveness of oneself and forgiveness of situations. There is reason to believe that failure to forgive oneself and situations might be related to social loneliness. To test the possible relationship between the three dimensions of dispositional forgiveness and social loneliness, we administered the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Yamhure-Thompson & Snyder) and the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980) to 176 undergraduate students from two United Kingdom universities. The three dimensions of forgiveness were all significantly and positively correlated with each other. Forgiveness of oneself and forgiveness of situations shared a statistically significantly negative correlation with social loneliness. However, no significant relationship was found between forgiveness of others and loneliness. After performing a multiple regression analysis, we found that forgiveness of self but not forgiveness of situations accounted for unique variance in scores on social loneliness. The results suggest that forgiveness of oneself, and not forgiveness of others or situations, accounts for the unique variance in social loneliness scores.

Barber, L., Maltby, J., & Macaskill, A. (2005). Angry memories and thoughts of revenge: The relationship between forgiveness and anger rumination. Personality and Individual Differences, 39(2), 253-262.

This study examined the relationship between a two-dimensional model of forgiveness and Sukhodolsky et al. (2001) 4-factor model of anger rumination among 200 university students. Anger memories were found to be the most important aspects in forgiving oneself, and dealing with revenge thoughts were found to be crucial when exploring issues around forgiving another person. The present findings suggest the importance of cognitive aspects as portrayed by Sukhodolsky et al. (2001) model of anger rumination to explore in greater depth the cognitive processes involved in forgiveness of self and others. Angry memories and thoughts of revenge: The relationship between forgiveness and anger rumination.

Avery, C. M. (2008). The relationship between self-forgiveness and health: Mediating variables and implications for well-being (ProQuest Information & Learning). Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 69 (3-B) 1939.

Although the study of forgiveness has only recently begun to receive attention from the scientific community, the health benefits of forgiveness have been consistently demonstrated. A relatively unexplored type of forgiveness is self-forgiveness, which the present study examined. This study investigated the relationship between forgiveness of others, forgiveness of the self (as measured by the Heartland Forgiveness Scale), self-reported mental and physical health (as measured by the Rand 36-Item Short Form Health Survey), empathy (as measured by The Balanced Emotional Empathy Test) and religiosity (as measured by the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire). The sample consisted of 95 students from the University of Hartford. Overall, the results indicated that self-forgiveness was positively correlated with both physical and mental health, specifically the General Health and Bodily Pain subscales and all four mental health subscales, which included Role Emotional, Mental Health, Social Functioning, and Vitality. In addition, there was a moderate positive correlation (r=.423) between self and other forgiveness. Forgiveness of others was positively correlated with mental health, specifically Mental Health and Social Functioning, but not physical health. Empathy was not correlated with self or other forgiveness or health, and religiosity was correlated with other forgiveness, but not self-forgiveness. In examining which of the variables predicted the greatest variance in mental and physical health, three domains were found to be significant: Mental Health, General Health, and Social Functioning. For all three subscales, self-forgiveness was the independent variable that carried the most weight. In fact, self-forgiveness accounted for 10.5% of the variance in General Health, 10.2% of the variance in Mental Health, and 6 7% of the variance in Social Functioning. The fact that all the other variables combined did not contribute as much to the regression model shows that self-forgiveness had a powerful impact on self-reported physical and mental health. Future researchers should not overlook the value of self-forgiveness when investigating factors predictive of good physical and mental health.