Showing papers by "Everett L. Worthington published in 2008"

Gender and forgiveness: a meta-analytic review and research agenda

Abstract: A meta–analysis was conducted with 53 articles reporting 70 studies that addressed gender and forgiveness. The mean d was .28 indicating that females are more forgiving than males. Potential methodological moderators were examined: (a) type of sample, (b) target of forgiveness, (c) trait, state, or familial/marital forgiveness, (d) actual versus hypothetical transgressions, (e) measurement modalities (i.e., questionnaire, experiment, or survey), (f) type of forgiveness measure, (g) published or not published, (h) validated measures versus non–validated measures, and (i) culture. No methodological variables moderated the relationship between gender and forgiveness. However, there were larger gender differences on vengeance than any other forgiveness–related measure. Other potential moderators were suggested as possibly influencing the gender difference including functional differences processing forgiveness, differences in dispositional qualities, and situational cues.

Unresolved Injustice: Christian Religious Commitment, Forgiveness, Revenge, and Cardiovascular Responding

Abstract: We examined the religious commitment levels of 57 (27 M, 30 F) self-identified Christian young adults in the context of considering an unresolved injustice. "Religious commitment was unrelated to self-reported dispositional anger, but positively associated with higher dispositional interpersonal forgiveness and lower rumination. When imagining a property crime and its unresolved aftermath, greater religious commitment was associated with the inhibition of revenge-seeking and cultivation of empathy and forgiveness (dependent on measurement timing). Greater religious commitment was also associated with higher blood pressure reactivity in the aftermath of the unresolved crime. Limitations of this exploratory study are addressed, along with possible interpretations, which might inform follow-up studies. The present study investigated religious commitment in relationship to trait rumination, anger, and forgiveness in self identified Christian young adulte. These self-identified Christians then imagined being victims of a clear-cut injustice. Against the backdrop of their trait responses, we sought to determine answers to several questions. Is greater religious commitment associated with lower revenge-seeking motivation? Does greater religious commitment correspond with more empathic and forgiving responses? Does greater Christian commitment correlate with calmer or more reactive cardiovascular responses in the face of an unresolved injustice? The cur rent investigation examines these issues using a combination of questionnaire and psychophysiological methods. The interpretation of findings will relate to two main areas of empirical research: the religious correlates and the affective and physiological correlates of forgiveness. Review of Religion and Forgiveness-Related Findings Given the role forgiveness plays in major religions (Rye et al., 2000) and especially in Christianity (Marly, 1998), the relationship between forgiveness and religion is garnering research attention. Self reports of religiousness have been consistently related to higher self-reported levels of forgiveness (McCullough, Bono, & Root, 2005; Tsang, McCullough, & Hoyt, 2005). Recent research has linked intrinsic religious motivation with lower scores on self-reported vengefulness and extrinsic religious motivation to higher vengefulness, also suggesting that some aspects of traditional religiousness may be associated with behavioral retaliation (Greer, Herman, Varan, Bobrycki, & Watson, 2005). Religious beliefs and values shape people's understanding of what forgiveness means and requires (Mahoney, Rye, & Pargament, 2005). On a broad scale, people who self-identify as religious-rather than "spiritual"-consistently score on self-report measures as [saving more forgiving personalities than those who self-identify as spiritual-rather than "religious" (DeShea. Tzou, Kang, & Matsiiyuki, 2006). However, other research has found that participants who endorse belief in God and the Bible have shown greater aggression-via administering loud noise through a competitor's headphones after read irig a violent text said to corne from the Bible versus an ancient scroll (Bushman, Ridge, Das, Key, & Busath, 2007). in comparing religions, Cohen, Malka, Rozm, and Cherfas (2006) found that Protestant Chris dans and Jews differed in their understanding of and approaches to forgiveness. Protestant Christians were less likely to believe that some offenses are unforgivable. Another measure of religiosity is religious commitment. Religiosity is distinct from religious motivation, religious beliefs, religious values, and spirituality. "Without attempting to make absolute distinctions in the categories of religiosity, we can make some observations. Religious commitment is adherence to specific beliefs and values that are motivated by intrinsic and/or extrinsic religious motives, but religious commitment, is also a determination to integrate one's religiosity into daily life. …

Prayer and Marital Intervention: Can it be Long and Strong Enough to Matter?

Abstract: Beach, Fincham, Hurt, McNair, and Stanley provide a conceptual framework for the psychological and relational processes involved in using prayer as a marriage intervention. The benefits and cautions of using prayer are described under three rubrics. Prayer is analyzed as an alternative method of marital intervention, an additive intervention, and a stimulation to transformation within the marriage. The authors suggest numerous times that their speculations are important for treating couples who already incorporate prayer in their individual and relational lives. Prayer, as an intervention in couple therapy, is not recommended for couples who do not already employ it, nor as a method that proselytizes couples.