What it takes to forgive: When and why executive functioning facilitates forgiveness.

To establish what it takes to forgive, the present research focused on the cognitive underpinnings of the forgiveness process. We conducted four studies that examined and supported the prediction that executive functioning (a set of cognitive control processes) facilitates forgiveness. First, a correlational study revealed a positive relation between executive functioning and dispositional forgiveness (Study 1). Second, a longitudinal study demonstrated that executive functioning predicts the development of forgiveness over a period of 5 weeks after the offense (Study 2). Finally, two experiments examined when and why executive functioning facilitates forgiveness. Specifically, and in line with predictions, Studies 3 and 4 showed that executive functioning facilitates forgiveness only in the case of relatively severe (as compared with mild) offenses. Furthermore, Study 4 provided evidence for a psychological mechanism underlying the relation between executive functioning and forgiveness by demonstrating the mediating role of rumination about the offense. Implications of these findings for the literature on forgiveness and the role of executive functioning in interpersonal relationships more generally are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The surprising simplicity of sensory metrics.

"Is there a single, simple, pervasive psychophysical law? Unlikely as it may seem, there appears to be such a law. Its form is a power function, and not the logarithmic relation that is almost universally cited in textbooks… . The psychophysical power law relating the psychological magnitude to the physical stimulus can be written[Equation omitted]where k is a constant determined by the choice of units. The exponent n varies with the modality, and also with such parameters as adaptation and contrast." Major sections are: Evidence for the Power Law, Cross-Modality Validations, Difficulties and Impediments, Reasons for Curvature in the Loudness Function, Pertubations, and Parametric Explorations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychophysical scaling and scales of physical stimulus measurement.

The function obtained in prothetic psychophysical scaling depends in part on the measure selected to represent physical stimulus magnitude. Stimulus measurement is usually open to alternatives. Choice of stimulus scale can determine (a) the size of an exponent in a power function; (b) the size of the constant k in a logarithmic (Fechnerian) function; (c) whether the general shape of a psychophysical function will be a power, logarithmic, or some other type; (d) the size of the Weber ratio and degree of constancy it exhibits; and (e) interdimensional correlation between power function exponents and stimulus dynamic range. A variety of alternative stimulus measures from the literature are described and their consequences discussed. (1? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parameter estimation in simple psychophysical models.

Fechner's logarithmic law and J. C. Stevens's (1957) power law are parameterized with error terms. This approach yields unbiased estimates of the single parameter in Fechner's law or the exponent in Stevens's power law. Obtaining reasonable estimates of the other power law quantities of interest such as the scale factor or exponent reciprocal is less straightforward. Some estimates can be strikingly biased. Approximately unbiased estimates are proposed for many common estimation situations. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Widening spheres of impact: The role of forgiveness in marital and family functioning.

This study examined relations between aspects of family functioning and positive and negative dimensions of forgiveness. Increased understanding of one's partner and decreased anger about betrayal characterize positive forgiveness, whereas experiences such as holding a grudge and desiring revenge indicate negative forgiveness. The sample included 87 wives and 74 husbands who reported experiencing a significant betrayal, their partners, and their adolescent children. Analyses of reported forgiveness revealed that more negative forgiveness was associated with lower marital satisfaction for husbands and wives; trust partially mediated this relationship for husbands and wives. Greater positive forgiveness reported by husbands and wives predicted their own reports of a stronger parenting alliance, whereas greater negative forgiveness reported by husbands and wives predicted their spouses' reports of a weaker parenting alliance. For wives, more negative forgiveness also predicted higher levels of children's perceived parental conflict, and parents' reported conflict mediated this association for wives. Findings suggest that forgiveness of a marital betrayal is significantly associated with marital satisfaction, the parenting alliance, and children's perceptions of parental marital functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A value-congruent bias in the forgiveness forecasts of religious people.

Given the weak and potentially tenuous association between religiosity and actual forgiveness reported in the literature, why is it that religious people consistently predict they would forgive interpersonal offenses? Using a newly devised method for testing multiple mediator models, two studies were conducted to examine the hypothesis that religious people’s forgiveness values mediate the relationship between religiosity and forgiveness forecasts, independent of self-perceived past forgiveness tendencies. The first study focused on predicted forgiveness of hypothetical offenders, and the second examined forecasted forgiveness of those responsible for the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. In both studies, the mediating role of forgiveness values (independent of past forgiveness tendencies) was established, suggesting a value-congruent bias in religious people’s forgiveness forecasts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forgiveness increases the likelihood of subsequent partner transgressions in marriage.

Despite a growing literature on the positive implications of forgiveness and recent efforts to promote forgiveness in marriage, there is reason to believe forgiveness could have yet-unknown negative implications. In particular, forgiveness may increase the likelihood that offenders will offend again by removing unwanted outcomes for those offenders (e.g., criticism, guilt, loneliness) that would otherwise discourage them from reoffending. Consistent with this possibility, the current 7-day-diary study revealed that newlywed spouses were more likely to report that their partners had engaged in a negative behavior on days after they had forgiven those partners for a negative behavior than on days after they had not forgiven those partners for a negative behavior. Interpersonal theories and interventions designed to treat and prevent relationship distress may benefit by acknowledging this potential cost of forgiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring offence-specific forgiveness in marriage: The Marital Offence-Specific Forgiveness Scale (MOFS).

Three studies involving 328 married couples were conducted to validate the Marital Offence-Specific Forgiveness Scale, a new measure assessing offence-specific forgiveness for marital transgressions. The studies examined the dimensionality; internal consistency; and discriminant, concurrent, and predictive validity of the new measure. The final scale comprised 2 distinct correlated dimensions, 1 positive (Benevolence) and 1 negative (Resentment–Avoidance), both of which had adequate internal consistency. The 2 dimensions discriminated marital forgiveness from affective empathy, rumination, attributions, and marital quality. Convergent validity of the new scale was indicated by significant relationships between its underlying dimensions and a host of predicted sociocognitive, relationship, trait, and well-being correlates of forgiveness. Providing evidence for predictive validity, forgiveness dimensions accounted for variability in relationship variables over a 6-month period. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forgiveness and relationship satisfaction: Mediating mechanisms.

Although the ability to forgive transgressions has been linked to overall relationship satisfaction, the mechanisms that mediate this association have not been established. We propose that the tendency to forgive a romantic partner increases relationship satisfaction via increased relational effort and decreased negative conflict. In two studies, we used structural equations modeling to examine these variables as potential mechanisms that drive this association. In Study 1 (N = 523) and Study 2 (N = 446) we found that these variables significantly mediated the association between forgiveness and relationship satisfaction. The findings were robust when examined concurrently and longitudinally, across multiple measures of forgiveness, and when accounting for baseline relationship satisfaction and interpersonal commitment. These two mechanisms parallel theorized positive and negative dimensions of forgiveness and the motivational transformation that is said to underlie forgiveness. Theoretical implications and implications for intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unraveling the role of forgiveness in family relationships.

Testing the idea that the process of forgiveness is intrinsically different across diverse relationships, this study examined the role of forgiveness in different family relationships. In 2 laboratory sessions 1 year apart, 114 families (each including 2 parents and 1 child) completed a new measure of family forgiveness and many individual-level, relationship-level, and family-level variables that have been previously linked with forgiveness. After validating the measure of family forgiveness in cross-sectional analyses, investigators performed longitudinal analyses to examine the role of forgiveness in each family relationship over the 1-year interval. Results indicated many important positive consequences of forgiveness on individual traits, aspects of each family relationship, and general family environment. However, there were also important asymmetries in associates of forgiveness across parent-child and parent-parent relationships, demonstrating the relationship-bound nature of forgiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forgiveness and anger-related emotions in Taiwan: Implications for therapy.

The relationship between forgiveness and anger-related emotions was examined with an adult sample in Taiwan. Levels of forgiveness were based on the analyses in R. D. Enright et al (1989). 30 matched pairs of level 4 (forgiveness as an obligation) and level 6 (forgiveness as moral love) participants (aged 18–41 yrs) out of 1,427 adults screened were assessed on variables of anger-related emotions via self-report, facial expressions, the frequency of casting down the eyes, and blood pressure. These measurements were administered during or immediately after the participants recorded an incident of deep, interpersonal hurt against him or her. The frequencies of masking smiles and casting down of eyes showed that level 4 participants (who based forgiveness on obligation) had more residual anger-related affect to the hurtful event than did the level 6 participants (who based forgiveness on the moral principle of love). Blood pressure data also suggested higher elevation in the beginning when level 4 participants retold their hurtful events. Psychotherapeutic implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How does cognitive control reduce anger and aggression? The role of conflict monitoring and forgiveness processes.

It is well-established that superior cognitive control abilities are associated with lower levels of anger and aggression. However, the precise emotion regulation operations underlying this relationship have been underspecified and underexplored in previous research. Drawing on neuropsychological models of cognitive control, the authors propose that limited capacity resources can be recruited within a hostile situation to promote a process of forgiveness. The results of 2 studies supported this proposal. Across studies, individual differences in hostility-primed cognitive control were assessed implicitly. In Study 1, hostility-primed cognitive control predicted less aggressive behavior in response to a laboratory provocation. Moreover, forgiveness mediated these effects. In Study 2, hostility-primed cognitive control predicted forgiveness of provocations in participants' daily lives and subsequent reductions in anger. In sum, the results contribute to a systematic understanding of how cognitive control leads to lower levels of anger and aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting the Intentions of Women in Domestic Violence Shelters to Return to Partners: Does Forgiveness Play a Role?

Recent findings indicate that college women's forgiveness of hypothetical dating violence was predictive of their hypothetical decisions to stay in the relationship. This study was designed to evaluate the role of forgiveness in women's intentions to return to their partners from a domestic violence shelter. A sample of 121 women residing in both urban and rural domestic violence shelters filled out a series of questionnaires evaluating demographic information, severity of violence, attributions for violence, psychological constraints (or investment), and forgiveness of the partner. Forgiveness was found to predict intention to return to partner over and above the other variables studied. These findings suggest that the degree to which women are willing to "move on" from the abuse and to let go of their anger toward their partners may play a significant role in their intention to remain in a relationship with their partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forgiveness and Conflict Resolution in Marriage.

Two studies examined whether forgiveness in married couples is associated with better conflict resolution. Study 1 examined couples in their 3rd year of marriage and identified 2 forgiveness dimensions (retaliation and benevolence). Husbands' retaliatory motivation was a significant predictor of poorer wife-reported conflict resolution, whereas wives' benevolence motivation predicted husbands' reports of better conflict resolution. Examining longer term marriages, Study 2 identified three forgiveness dimensions (retaliation, avoidance and benevolence). Whereas wives' benevolence again predicted better conflict resolution, husbands' avoidance predicted wives' reports of poorer conflict resolution. All findings were independent of both spouses' marital satisfaction. The findings are discussed in terms of the importance of forgiveness for marital conflict and its implications for spouse goals. Future research directions on forgiveness are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relating trait self-control and forgiveness within prosocials and proselfs: Compensatory versus synergistic models.

The present research tested 2 competing models specifying how 2 traits (concern with the well-being of others and self-control) interact to predict forgiveness. According to the compensatory model, forgiveness requires being high on either trait; according to the synergistic model, forgiveness requires being high on both traits. Two preliminary studies demonstrated the main effect of trait (Study 1a) and primed (Study 1b) self-control on forgiveness. Three primary studies consistently supported the compensatory model in predicting willingness to forgive a partner who behaves noncooperatively in a 2-alternative prisoner's dilemma (Study 2), a continuous give-some dilemma (Study 3), and a 2-alternative maximizing difference game (Study 4). Among proselfs or those low in trait forgiveness, trait self-control positively related to forgiveness, suggesting that self-control can compensate for a lack of concern with others' well-being. Implications for theory and research on forgiveness are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forgiveness Therapy: The Context and Conflict.

This paper is a critique of forgiveness therapy that focuses on the cultural contexts in which forgiveness therapy arose, with a special focus on the movement to address the victimization of women. I describe forgiveness as described by forgiveness therapy advocates and the moral and non-moral benefits claimed on its behalf. I then describe the cultural context that may explain the popularity of this form of therapy at this historical moment; the first context is a broad cultural context, looking at ideologies and practices that support forgiveness as a therapeutic intervention; the second context is the more narrow context of a movement within the field of psychology called "positive psychology" that also supports forgiveness interventions; and the third context, is the ideologies and narratives around victimization and in particular victimization against women that have led to an application of forgiveness therapy for victims of abuse (Freedman & Enright, 1996). After describing these three contexts in which forgiveness therapy arose, I present a critique from a feminist as well as a broader humanistic/psychodynamic perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fit to forgive: Exploring the interaction between regulatory focus, repentance, and forgiveness.

Three studies, using diverse methodologies and measures, were conducted to examine the role that the regulatory focus of an injured party and of a transgressor (E. T. Higgins, 1997, 2000) plays in explaining the relationship between repentance and forgiveness. The authors predicted that when a victim's regulatory focus (i.e., promotion vs. prevention) was congruent (i.e., fit) with the regulatory focus of a transgressor's repentance (i.e., promotion vs. prevention), there would be greater forgiveness compared with when there was incongruence (i.e., mismatch). Three studies supported these predictions. The results also confirmed one potential explanation for why apologies are not always successful at eliciting forgiveness, namely, feeling right. This research suggests that regulatory focus theory can help inform the scientific study of forgiveness and its related processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fechner's later psychophysics.

Although G. T. Fechner's writings after Elements of Psychophysics (1860) are not well-known today, Fechner remained active in psychophysics for 27 yrs. Among his achievements were attempts to clarify, by experiment, the degree to which E. H. Weber's (1846 [1978]) law was valid in various sensory modalities. Fechner came to grips with the objection that sensations were not the sort of things that could be said to have strengths. He devoted much effort to evaluating J. A. Plateau's (1872) notion that the psychophysical law was not logarithmic but took the form of a power law. Fechner addressed the nature of negative sensations, and his inner psychophysics foreshadowed such modern notions as signal detection theory and holographic memory. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The cognitive and emotive uses of forgiveness in the treatment of anger.

Presents the cognitive and emotive uses of forgiveness as a psychotherapeutic technique that enables patients to release anger without inflicting harm on others. Forgiveness is considered a powerful therapeutic intervention that frees people from their anger and from the guilt that is often a result of unconscious anger. It (1) helps individuals forget the painful experiences of their past and frees them from the subtle control of individuals and events of the past; (2) facilitates the reconciliation of relationships more than the expression of anger; and (3) decreases the likelihood that anger will be misdirected in later loving relationships. The benefits, process, limitations, and preventive uses of forgiveness in psychotherapy as well as the obstacles encountered in relinquishing anger are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of Soil Locking on the Cylindrical Shock Wave’s Peak Pressure Attenuation

The paper investigates the characteristics of propagating shock waves in soil, resulting from an explosion of a cylindrical line charge. The main purpose of this investigation is to study the full locking parameter’s effect on the qualitative and quantitative behavior of the peak pressure attenuation. The soil is modeled as a bulk irreversible compressible elastic plastic medium, including full bulk locking and dependence of the current deviatoric yield stress on the pressure. The Lagrange approach and the modified variational-difference methods are used to simulate the process. A study of the characteristics of the equation of the state of soil was carried out for the case of a cylindrical line charge explosion in an infinite soil medium. The computed results were compared with experimental data. It was found that the full locking model somewhat overpredicts the measured stresses. The dependence of the peak stress attenuation, during the shock wave propagation, on the full locking parameter of the equation of state was studied. When the pressure-volumetric strain relationship beyond the point of full compaction is not steep, the attenuation may be described by a power law that may be expressed as a linear relationship on a logarithmic scale. When this relationship is relatively steep however, the logarithmic dependence of the peak stress on the shock wave coordinate is close to a bilinear function. It was also shown that the shock wave peak stress parameters of this power law for the high pressure range (i.e., short distance of the wave front from the explosive charge) are linearly dependent on the full locking parameter. Also it was shown that the full compaction density affects the exponent of stress-distance power relationship only at the earlier stage of the wave propagation and only when the range of nonlinear elastic compaction is relatively narrow.