Forgiveness as an intervention goal with incest survivors

An intervention, with forgiveness toward their abuser as the goal, was implemented with 12 female incest survivors. The women, from a midwestern city, were 24 to 54 years old, and all were Caucasian. A yoked, randomized experimental and control group design was used. The participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (receiving the forgiveness intervention immediately) or a waiting-list control group (receiving the intervention when their matched experimental counterpart finished the intervention). Each participant met individually with the intervener once per week. The average length of the intervention for the 12 participants was 14.3 months. A process model of forgiveness was used as the focus of intervention. Dependent variables included forgiveness, self-esteem, hope, psychological depression, and state-trait anxiety scales. After the intervention, the experimental group gained more than the control group in forgiveness and hope and decreased significantly more than the control group in anxiety and depression. When the control group then began the program they showed similar change patterns to the above, as well as in self-esteem improvement.     

Pathways to posttraumatic growth: The contributions of forgiveness and importance of religion and spirituality.

Posttraumatic growth may follow the experience of being significantly hurt by another person. This study examines the roles of forgiveness and the importance of religion and spirituality in posttraumatic growth after a significant interpersonal transgression among a diverse sample of 146 adults. Results demonstrated that transgression severity was negatively related to forgiveness: the more distressing the event, the more revenge and avoidance were endorsed in response to the offender. Regression analyses revealed that benevolence toward the offender predicted growth in the area of relating to others. The positive relationship between forgiveness and posttraumatic growth was mediated by importance of religion and spirituality; however, the relationship between unforgiveness and lack of growth was not similarly mediated. Results suggest that religious and spiritual variables influence how individuals respond to significant interpersonal transgressions through positive processes. (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)     

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)     

Can group interventions facilitate forgiveness of an ex-spouse? A randomized clinical trial.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of 2 versions of an 8-session forgiveness group intervention for divorced individuals. Participants (randomized, n = 192; analyzed, n = 149) were randomly assigned to a secular forgiveness condition, a religious forgiveness condition, or a no-intervention comparison condition. Measures of forgiveness and mental health were obtained at pretest, posttest, and 6-week follow-up. Participants in both intervention conditions increased significantly more than comparison participants on self-reported forgiveness of an ex-spouse and understanding of forgiveness. Participants in the secular condition showed a greater decrease in depressive symptoms than comparison participants. Intrinsic religiousness did not moderate intervention effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vengefully ever after: Destiny beliefs, state attachment anxiety, and forgiveness.

Two studies examined how destiny beliefs (that potential relationships are or are not "meant to be") interact with state attachment anxiety to predict forgiveness tendencies. In Study 1, participants experienced an experimental manipulation of attachment anxiety (vs. security) before indicating the degree to which they would forgive a series of hypothetical partner offenses. In Study 2, participants reported every 2 weeks for 6 months (14 waves in total) on offenses enacted by their partner and indicated the degree to which they forgave the partner, both concurrently and 2 weeks later. Consistent with predictions, results revealed Destiny Beliefs × State Attachment Anxiety interaction effects: Strong (relative to weak) destiny beliefs predicted reduced forgiveness tendencies for individuals experiencing state attachment anxiety, but such beliefs were not associated with forgiveness for individuals experiencing state attachment security. Results from Study 2 suggest that this interaction effect was significantly mediated through trust in the partner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forgiveness as a psychotherapeutic goal with elderly females.

A psychotherapeutic intervention with forgiveness as the goal was implemented with 24 elderly women (mean age 74.5 yrs). The client's goal was to forgive one person who had inflicted considerable psychological hurt, as judged by the client. The Ss were randomly assigned to a forgiveness condition and a control group. The forgiveness group followed a treatment model based on R. D. Enright et al (1991). Dependent variables included 2 forgiveness scales, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventories, Beck Depression Inventory, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Following the 8-wk intervention, the experimental group showed significantly higher forgiveness profiles at posttest compared with the control group. Both groups significantly decreased from pretest to posttest on psychological depression and trait anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental health, not social support, mediates the forgiveness-alcohol outcome relationship.

Religiousness and spirituality are important to most Americans, and evidence suggests that they may contribute to both addiction and recovery. Forgiveness is a specific dimension of religiousness and spirituality that may enhance recovery, but the mechanism(s) through which it operates is unknown. We hypothesized that higher levels of forgiveness would be associated with higher levels of mental health and social support, which, in turn, would be associated with improved alcohol-related outcomes. Baseline and 6-month longitudinal data from a sample of 149 individuals with alcohol use disorders seeking outpatient substance abuse treatment were analyzed through multiple-mediation statistical techniques. While previous research has shown direct associations among forgiveness, alcohol-related outcomes, mental health, and social support, this study found that the direct associations between forgiveness and alcohol-related outcomes were no longer significant when mental health and social support were analyzed as mediator variables. At baseline, for each alcohol-related outcome measured (alcohol-related problems, percent heavy drinking days, percent days abstinent, and drinks per drinking day), mental health individually played a role in the relationship with both forgiveness of self and forgiveness of others, fully mediating or operating through an indirect-only pathway. For alcohol-related problems only, mental health fully mediated the relationship with forgiveness of self at follow-up and operated through an indirect-only pathway with forgiveness of others longitudinally. Social support and feeling forgiven by God were nonsignificant variables at baseline, follow-up, and longitudinally. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparable efficacy of contingency management for cocaine dependence among African American, Hispanic, and White methadone maintenance clients.

Cocaine use is a significant problem among methadone maintenance clients. Contingency management (CM) is a reinforcement-based approach with demonstrated efficacy for reducing cocaine use. This study examines whether the efficacy of CM treatment for cocaine-dependent individuals receiving methadone maintenance for opioid dependence differs by ethnicity. Participants were 191 African American, Hispanic, and White cocaine-dependent methadone maintenance clients, randomly assigned to standard methadone treatment or standard methadone treatment plus CM for 12 weeks. Hispanic participants were younger, less educated, and reported fewer years of cocaine use than did African American and White participants and reported fewer years of heroin use than did African American participants. African American participants were less likely to report a history of psychiatric symptoms or treatment in comparison with Hispanic and White participants. While CM was associated with longer duration of continuous cocaine abstinence and a greater proportion of submitted urine samples negative for cocaine, ethnicity was not related to treatment outcomes, and there was no significant interaction between treatment and ethnicity. CM appears to be an efficacious treatment for cocaine dependence among methadone maintenance clients, regardless of ethnicity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of emotion-focused therapy and psychoeducation in facilitating forgiveness and letting go of emotional injuries.

This study compared the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy (EFT) involving gestalt empty-chair dialogue in the treatment of individuals who were emotionally injured by a significant other with therapy in a psychoeducation group designed to deal with these injuries. In addition, this study examined aspects of the emotional process of forgiveness in resolving interpersonal injuries and investigated the relationship between letting go of distressing feelings and forgiveness. A total of 46 clients assessed as having unresolved, interpersonal, emotional injuries were randomly assigned to an individual therapy treatment of EFT or a psychoeducation group. Clients were assessed at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up on measures of forgiveness, letting go, depression, global symptoms, and key target complaints. Results indicated that clients in EFT using empty-chair dialogue showed significantly more improvement than the psychoeducation treatment on all measures of forgiveness and letting go, as well as global symptoms and key target complaints. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Too Proud to Let Go: Narcissistic Entitlement as a Barrier to Forgiveness.

Narcissistic entitlement impedes forgiveness in ways not captured by other robust predictors (e.g., offense severity, apology, relationship closeness, religiosity, Big Five personality factors), as demonstrated in 6 studies. Narcissistic entitlement involves expectations of special treatment and preoccupation with defending one's rights. In Study 1, entitlement predicted less forgiveness and greater insistence on repayment for a past offense. Complementary results emerged from Study 2, which used hypothetical transgressions, and Study 3, which assessed broad forgiveness dispositions. Study 4 examined associations with the Big Five, and Study 5 extended the findings to a laboratory context. Study 6 demonstrated that entitlement predicted diminished increases in forgiveness over time. Taken together, these results suggest that narcissistic entitlement is a robust, distinct predictor of unforgiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Not so innocent: Does seeing one's own capability for wrongdoing predict forgiveness?

People are more forgiving toward transgressors if they see themselves as capable of committing similar offenses, as demonstrated in 7 studies. Methods included hypothetical scenarios, actual recalled offenses, individual and group processes, and correlational and experimental designs. Three factors mediated the link between personal capability and forgiveness: seeing the other's offense as less severe, greater empathic understanding, and perceiving oneself as similar to the transgressor. In terms of predicting forgiveness, it was important that people's own offenses were similar to the target offense in terms of both severity and type. The personal capability effect was independent of other established predictors of forgiveness and was more pronounced among men than women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The road to forgiveness: A meta-analytic synthesis of its situational and dispositional correlates.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 137(2) of Psychological Bulletin (see record 2011-03899-006). In Table 2, weighted population correlations and associated standard errors and confidence intervals are incorrectly reported. In Table 3, weighted population correlations and associated confidence intervals are incorrectly reported, as well as the Q statistic for trait forgiveness. Corrected data are presented. The authors note that substantive interpretations of the results are not affected by the corrections. The median absolute value correction for the weighted population correlations in both tables is r = .01.] Forgiveness has received widespread attention among psychologists from social, personality, clinical, developmental, and organizational perspectives alike. Despite great progress, the forgiveness literature has witnessed few attempts at empirical integration. Toward this end, we meta-analyze results from 175 studies and 26,006 participants to examine the correlates of interpersonal forgiveness (i.e., forgiveness of a single offender by a single victim). A tripartite forgiveness typology is proposed, encompassing victims' (a) cognitions, (b) affect, and (c) constraints following offense, with each consisting of situational and dispositional components. We tested hypotheses with respect to 22 distinct constructs, as correlates of forgiveness, that have been measured across different fields within psychology. We also evaluated key sample and study characteristics, including gender, age, time, and methodology as main effects and moderators. Results highlight the multifaceted nature of forgiveness. Variables with particularly notable effects include intent (r? = ?.49), state empathy (r? = .51), apology (r? = .42), and state anger (r? = ?.41). Consistent with previous theory, situational constructs are shown to account for greater variance in forgiveness than victim dispositions, although within-category differences are considerable. Sample and study characteristics yielded negligible effects on forgiveness, despite previous theorizing to the contrary: The effect of gender was nonsignificant (r? = .01), and the effect of age was negligible (r? = .06). Preliminary evidence suggests that methodology may exhibit some moderating effects. Scenario methodologies led to enhanced effects for cognitions; recall methodologies led to enhanced effects for affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Promoting Forgiveness Among Co-Workers Following a Workplace Transgression: The Effects of Social Motivation Training.

Forgiveness is one construct that is beginning to demonstrate promise as a health and relationship promoter within the workplace. The primary aim of this research was to examine the effects of one psychological intervention (social motivational training) that was developed to promote forgiveness among co-workers. In the first of two studies, workers were randomly assigned to one of two intervention conditions (i.e., job satisfaction training, social motivational training). Participants read a vignette in which they were to imagine themselves as victims of a co-worker transgression. Judgments of responsibility and co-worker forgiveness were then measured at two intervals: before and after training. In Study 2, workers recounted an actual critical incident involving a co-worker transgression, completed a pretraining questionnaire measuring judgments of responsibility, self-image, and forgiveness, received either a one-on-one job satisfaction training or social motivational training session, and completed a post-training questionnaire. Results from both studies indicated that social motivational training enhanced participants' forgiveness of a hypothetical and actual co-worker. In addition, Study 2 showed an increase in workers' self-image following social motivational training, suggesting affirmation of the self as a possible mechanism for the effects of social motivational training on forgiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meditative prayer, hope, adult attachment, and forgiveness: A proposed model.

The present study tested a theoretical model of the relationship between meditative prayer and interpersonal forgiveness with hope and adult attachment as mediator variables. Results supported the proposed multiple mediation model as determined by multiple measures of model fit with the data. Significant direct effects were observed between meditative prayer and hope, hope and adult attachment, and adult attachment and forgiveness. A significant total indirect effect was found between meditative prayer and forgiveness. A significant specific indirect effect was also observed between meditative prayer and adult attachment with hope as the mediator, and between hope and forgiveness with adult attachment as a mediator. The concept of affect regulation is proposed as a possible unifying mechanism of the variables in the proposed model and implications are discussed in terms of existing literature and promoting interpersonal forgiveness in counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Fehr et al. (2010).

Reports an error in "The road to forgiveness: A meta-analytic synthesis of its situational and dispositional correlates" by Ryan Fehr, Michele J. Gelfand and Monisha Nag (Psychological Bulletin, 2010[Sep], Vol 136[5], 894-914). In Table 2, weighted population correlations and associated standard errors and confidence intervals are incorrectly reported. In Table 3, weighted population correlations and associated confidence intervals are incorrectly reported, as well as the Q statistic for trait forgiveness. Corrected data are presented. The authors note that substantive interpretations of the results are not affected by the corrections. The median absolute value correction for the weighted population correlations in both tables is r = .01. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2010-17510-010.) Forgiveness has received widespread attention among psychologists from social, personality, clinical, developmental, and organizational perspectives alike. Despite great progress, the forgiveness literature has witnessed few attempts at empirical integration. Toward this end, we meta-analyze results from 175 studies and 26,006 participants to examine the correlates of interpersonal forgiveness (i.e., forgiveness of a single offender by a single victim). A tripartite forgiveness typology is proposed, encompassing victims' (a) cognitions, (b) affect, and (c) constraints following offense, with each consisting of situational and dispositional components. We tested hypotheses with respect to 22 distinct constructs, as correlates of forgiveness, that have been measured across different fields within psychology. We also evaluated key sample and study characteristics, including gender, age, time, and methodology as main effects and moderators. Results highlight the multifaceted nature of forgiveness. Variables with particularly notable effects include intent (r? = ?.49), state empathy (r? = .51), apology (r? = .42), and state anger (r? = ?.41). Consistent with previous theory, situational constructs are shown to account for greater variance in forgiveness than victim dispositions, although within-category differences are considerable. Sample and study characteristics yielded negligible effects on forgiveness, despite previous theorizing to the contrary: The effect of gender was nonsignificant (r? = .01), and the effect of age was negligible (r? = .06). Preliminary evidence suggests that methodology may exhibit some moderating effects. Scenario methodologies led to enhanced effects for cognitions; recall methodologies led to enhanced effects for affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Treatment of heroin-dependent poly-drug abusers with contingency management and buprenorphine maintenance.

This study targeted poly-drug (cocaine plus heroin) abstinence among buprenorphine-maintained participants with a 12-week voucher-based reinforcement therapy (VBRT) phase versus a yoked control condition. Baseline levels of cocaine and heroin use were significant predictors of treatment outcome, regardless of treatment assignment. Overall, there were no significant group differences on treatment outcome. However, among the subsample that produced one or more poly-drug-free urine results, VBRT participants had significantly increased cocaine-but not heroin and poly-drug-abstinence, although all results were in the predicted direction. Results suggest that for those who achieve poly-drug abstinence, VBRT may enhance treatment outcome. However, improved interventions, perhaps targeting single-drug abstinence, increasing reinforcement magnitude, or both, may be necessary to promote initial poly-drug abstinence in this population. (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)     

Writing about the benefits of an interpersonal transgression facilitates forgiveness.

The authors examined the effects of writing about the benefits of an interpersonal transgression on forgiveness. Participants (N = 304) were randomly assigned to one of three 20-min writing tasks in which they wrote about either (a) traumatic features of the most recent interpersonal transgression they had suffered, (b) personal benefits resulting from the transgression, or (c) a control topic that was unrelated to the transgression. Participants in the benefit-finding condition became more forgiving toward their transgressors than did those in the other 2 conditions, who did not differ from each other. In part, the benefit-finding condition appeared to facilitate forgiveness by encouraging participants to engage in cognitive processing as they wrote their essays. Results suggest that benefit finding may be a unique and useful addition to efforts to help people forgive interpersonal transgressions through structured interventions. The Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory-18-Item Version (TRIM-18) is appended. (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)