Forgiveness: concepts, psychological effects, and interpersonal significance

Psychology of Forgiveness: Exploratory Analysis of the Variables That Influence Forgiveness in Humans

This research paper will address specifically the psychology of forgiveness. In particular the researcher will attempt to identify what psychological characteristics influence the tendency toward forgiveness. The aim of the research includes exploration into the motivational transformation collectively known as forgiveness, and what psychological traits seem to foster forgiveness or encourage forgiveness in the individual. The researcher will examine five articles dating 2000 to 2005 conducted by various researchers on the subject of the socially constructed phenomena of forgiveness and the attributes those individuals most likely to forgive display vs. those less likely to engage in forgiving behavior.

Purpose of Research

The purpose of this research is an analysis of the psychological traits individuals prone to forgiveness possess. Specifically the researcher is interested in identifying whether certain individuals are more likely to forgive than others based on psychological traits or otherwise.

Method

The research design will include comparative analysis of five different research studies specifically examining the nature of forgiveness in individuals. Specifically the researcher will compare varying theories suggesting that multiple covariates influence an individual's propensity toward forgiveness. The researcher hypothesizes that individuals who are more empathetic, guilt ridden or affiliated with a particular religious background are more likely to demonstrate forgiving behaviors than those who do not.

Literature Review

Models of Forgiveness

In the research study Dimensions Underlying Sixteen Models of Forgiveness and Reconciliation authors Gorsuch & Walker examine multiple models of interpersonal forgiveness and reconciliation. The authors attempt to describe the constructs common to those models and identify sixteen models of forgiveness and reconciliation among 180 Christian college students (Gorsuch & Walker, 2004). The results of the factor analysis method employed by the researchers suggest that five underlying constructs underlie forgiveness and reconciliation, namely: hurt or anger, receiving forgiveness from God, emotional or mental forgiveness, reconciliation and empathy (Gorsuch & Walker, 2004).

The researchers hypothesize that underlying dimensions exist across sixteen different models of forgiveness and further suggest that emotional forgiveness is different from behavioral reconciliation. They conclude that forgiveness is related to an interpersonal phenomenon that is different from behavioral reconciliation (Gorsuch & Walker, 2004). Reconciliation according to the authors involved more interpersonal actions that included granting and requesting forgiveness (Gorsuch & Walker, 2004). The major limitation of the study included lack of cross-sectional or longitudinal data that would help evaluate the models presented by the authors over a designated period of time, thus it was impossible for the researchers to conclude how their results would impact the process of forgiveness over a designated period of time (Gorsuch & Walker, 2004).

Forgiveness Vs. Unforgiveness

In the study Empathy, Selfism, and Coping as Elements of the Psychology of Forgiveness: A Preliminary Study, authors Levine, Homes and Konstam examine the psychology of forgives in an attempt to distinguish forgiveness from unforgiveness and to examine whether coping style impacted ones tendency to forgive or not forgive. The study participants included 92 students from a large public university. The researchers employed quantitative methodology to determine correlates of forgiveness and unforgiveness, which they found distinctly different (Holmes, Konstam & Levine, 2003).

The researchers found that emotion focused coping skills or attributes in people were more likely to be associated with forgiving behavior (Holmes, Konstam & Levine, 2003). The study had several limitations including the selection process. In this case participants for the study were selected from a base of volunteer students of a homogenous population, thus fell within a narrow demographic. As such the results of the study may not be generalizable to the population at large.

Conceptualizing Forgiveness

In his study How Do People Conceptualize and Use Forgiveness, Kanz examines the nature of forgiveness, individuals most likely to forgive and the manner in which people conceptualize forgiveness. Specifically the researcher attempts to define how people use and conceptualize interpersonal forgiveness and to introduce a forgiveness attitudes questionnaire to assert that this instrument can be used to explore the manner in which forgiveness is socially constructed. The researcher sampled 155 students form 2 colleges for purposes of this study. The results of the study suggest that the forgiveness attitudes questionnaire is a valid instrument for exploring the psychological phenomena of interpersonal forgiveness and suggests that forgiveness is easier among certain groups than others.

According to the research for example college students tend to be less forgiving than parents, and religious individuals tend to be more forgiving because they value forgiveness as an acceptable medium for living (Kanz, 2000). The study also suggests that some groups tend to value forgiveness more than others, including females vs. males; forgiveness is also more challenging among victims of rape or other violent crimes (Kanz, 2000). There were multiple limitations to the study including a small sample size used to evaluate a new instrument introduced by the researcher, but the study as the researcher points out was exploratory in nature, thus the instrument could be useful when applied to larger populations. Much of the results were also self-report instead of the result of direct observation thus more subject to subjectivity (Kanz, 2000).

Forgiveness and Health Variables

In the research article, Forgiveness and Health: Review and Reflections On A Matter of Faith, Feelings and Physiology Witvliet explores the current research available on forgiveness from a Christian psychological perspective. The author's intent is to provide psychological conceptualizations of forgiveness based on reviews of published literature related to forgiveness and the associated mental and physical health issues linked with forgiveness. The author notes that only recently have researchers attempted to examine how forgiveness affects ones cardiovascular system and overall health, but does emphasize a need for more studies related to forgiveness because of the obvious physical health benefits those that forgive typically gain.

The author further compares Christian scripture, which suggests that forgiveness is a sign of God's grace with published research on forgives which suggests according to the author that forgiveness offers both mental and physical health benefits. The methods employed by the researcher include investigational analysis of roughly three dozen published studies on forgiveness, concluding that the subject of forgiveness and health offers Christians and other members of society empirical evidence that forgiveness is important for improving ones well being physically and mentally. The author suggests that those more likely to engage in forgiving actions are those who are Christian or who have a spiritual foundation for living. This study is limited in that it does not involve direct comparisons or quantitiave analysis of the phenomena of forgiveness among a designated population sample (Witvliet, 2001).

Forgiveness Attributes

In the research study Toward Forgiveness: The Role of Shame, Guilt, Anger and Empathy the authors attempt to identify what emotional traits are more likely associated with forgiveness. The researchers specifically attempted to explore whether forgiving was related to moral emotional processes including ones proneness to shame, anger, guilt or empathy (Chernoff, Deveney & Konstam, 2001). The researchers hypothesize that multiple covariates can be associated with forgiveness and that independent covariates differed between men and women.

The researchers examine 138 graduate students at a large northeaster university. The study results showed that guilt prone people were more likely to exhibit forgiveness, as were those who were more empathetic. A positive relationship was also identified between anger reduction and overall forgiveness (Chernoff, et. al, 2001). In men the study reveals that shame-proneness and pride were much more likely to influence forgiveness (Chernoff, et. al, 2001). Limitations of the study include a small sample sizes and hence limited generalizablity of the findings to the population at large