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Journal ArticleDOI

Interpersonal forgiving in close relationships

01 Aug 1997-Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (American Psychological Association)-Vol. 73, Iss: 2, pp 321-336
TL;DR: Evidence is found consistent with the hypotheses that the relationship between receiving an apology from and forgiving one's offender is a function of increased empathy for the offender and that forgiving is uniquely related to conciliatory behavior and avoidance behavior toward the offending partner.
Abstract: Forgiving is a motivational transformation that inclines people to inhibit relationship-destructive responses and to behave constructively toward someone who has behaved destructively toward them. The authors describe a model of forgiveness based on the hypothesis that people forgive others to the extent that they experience empathy for them. Two studies investigated the empathy model of forgiveness. In Study 1, the authors developed measures of empathy and forgiveness. The authors found evidence consistent with the hypotheses that (a) the relationship between receiving an apology from and forgiving one's offender is a function of increased empathy for the offender and (b) that forgiving is uniquely related to conciliatory behavior and avoidance behavior toward the offending partner. In Study 2, the authors conducted an intervention in which empathy was manipulated to examine the empathy-forgiving relationship more closely. Results generally supported the conceptualization of forgiving as a motivational phenomenon and the empathy-forgiving link.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: This paper found that participants shifted between the use of self-information (e.g., switching places, past experience) and other-information during the process of perspective taking, and different emotions and cognitions were associated with taking one's own perspective and taking that of the other person.
Abstract: The ability to take the perspectives of others is considered a prerequisite for effective interpersonal interaction. Despite extensive investigation into the correlates of perspective taking, there have been few previous attempts to understand the process by which people take another's psychological point of view. The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the strategies used by individuals when attempting to take the perspective of another person. Twelve participants discussed a time they engaged in perspective taking. The analysis revealed that perspective taking was used in situations in which significant negative emotions could arise, and that participants shifted between the use of self-information (e.g., switching places, past experience) and other-information (e.g., target's personal characteristics) during the process of perspective taking. Different emotions and cognitions were associated with taking one's own perspective and taking that of the other person. The study provides a direct consideration of an under-investigated component of social and personal relationships.

38 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Forgiveness intervention that occurs early in the divorce adjustment process is implicated, particularly in relation to the self as mentioned in this paper, and there were significant relationships between depression and the capacity to forgive and between being in an angry feeling state and harboring a lack of forgiveness toward the ex-spouse.
Abstract: The role of forgiveness and affect was investigated in relation to divorce adjustment. Ninety-one participants separated from their ex-spouse less than 30 months completed a background questionnaire, the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI), the Self Forgiveness Scale (SFS), the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression Inventory (CES–D), the Spielberger State–Trait Anger Inventory (STAXI–2), and the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale (FDAS). There were significant relationships between depression and the capacity to forgive and between being in an angry feeling state and harboring a lack of forgiveness toward the ex-spouse. The relationship that emerged as the most powerful was that between trait anger and lack of self-forgiveness. Forgiveness intervention that occurs early in the divorce adjustment process is implicated, particularly in relation to the self.

38 citations


Cites background from "Interpersonal forgiving in close re..."

  • ...Self-sabotaging thought patterns of perfectionism and self-blame work against the self-forgiveness necessary for well-being (McCullough et al., 1997; Wohl et al., 2008)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined whether personality factors are associated with people's appraisals of the costs and benefits of romantic revenge and found that vengefulness predicted individuals' scores on the benefits and costs-appraisal indices controlling for Honesty-Humility and Agreeableness.

38 citations


Cites background from "Interpersonal forgiving in close re..."

  • ...To the extent that victims must forego the opportunity to seek revenge (e.g., McCullough et al., 1997) in order to forgive, Shepherd and Belicki’s results suggest that measures of Agreeableness should be negatively related to revenge if they are positively associated with trait forgiveness....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a laboratory experiment tested whether conciliatory behavior predicts lower blood pressure following spouses' discussion of a recent marital transgression and found that victim conciliative behavior during the discussion predicted not only lower victim blood pressure but also lower perpetrator blood pressure after the discussion.
Abstract: A laboratory experiment tested whether conciliatory behavior predicts lower blood pressure following spouses’ discussion of a recent marital transgression Sixty-eight married couples discussed unresolved transgressions—with random assignment determining whether the husband or the wife was in the victim role—and then rated victim and perpetrator conciliatory behavior (with the former akin to forgiveness and the latter akin to amends) while watching a videotape of their just-completed discussion Participants’ blood pressure was measured 40 min later Actor–partner interdependence modeling analyses revealed that victim conciliatory behavior during the discussion predicted not only lower victim blood pressure but also lower perpetrator blood pressure after the discussion Perpetrator conciliatory behavior during the discussion was not associated with victim or perpetrator blood pressure

38 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that self-affirmation did not affect forgiveness for men or women, although it did promote positive emotion and feelings of strength, and psychological entitlement emerged as an important moderator, strongly predicting unforgiving responses within the selfaffirmation condition.
Abstract: How might empathic processing and self-affirmation influence responses to transgression? After undergraduates (84 men, 83 women) recalled situations when they were hurt or offended, they were randomly assigned to either recall a similar offense of their own, consider the offender's perspective, recall a self-affirming situation, or recall a typical week (control). The similar offense and perspective-taking conditions prompted higher empathy but also more negative emotions (guilt, sadness, anger) than the other two conditions. As predicted, the similar offense and perspective-taking conditions yielded lower vengefulness and expressed hostility than the control and self-affirmation conditions—but only for men. Self-affirmation did not affect forgiveness for men or women, although it did promote positive emotion and feelings of strength. Psychological entitlement emerged as an important moderator, strongly predicting unforgiving responses within the self-affirmation condition.

37 citations


Cites background from "Interpersonal forgiving in close re..."

  • ..., 1997, 1998), whereas others have taken a more cognitive approach, focusing on understanding or perspective-taking (e.g., Exline et al., 2008; McCullough et al., 1997; Takaku, 2001; Takaku, Weiner, & Ohbuchi, 2001)....

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References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) are developed and are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period.
Abstract: In recent studies of the structure of affect, positive and negative affect have consistently emerged as two dominant and relatively independent dimensions. A number of mood scales have been created to measure these factors; however, many existing measures are inadequate, showing low reliability or poor convergent or discriminant validity. To fill the need for reliable and valid Positive Affect and Negative Affect scales that are also brief and easy to administer, we developed two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The scales are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period. Normative data and factorial and external evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the scales are also presented.

34,482 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A new coefficient is proposed to summarize the relative reduction in the noncentrality parameters of two nested models and two estimators of the coefficient yield new normed (CFI) and nonnormed (FI) fit indexes.
Abstract: Normed and nonnormed fit indexes are frequently used as adjuncts to chi-square statistics for evaluating the fit of a structural model A drawback of existing indexes is that they estimate no known population parameters A new coefficient is proposed to summarize the relative reduction in the noncentrality parameters of two nested models Two estimators of the coefficient yield new normed (CFI) and nonnormed (FI) fit indexes CFI avoids the underestimation of fit often noted in small samples for Bentler and Bonett's (1980) normed fit index (NFI) FI is a linear function of Bentler and Bonett's non-normed fit index (NNFI) that avoids the extreme underestimation and overestimation often found in NNFI Asymptotically, CFI, FI, NFI, and a new index developed by Bollen are equivalent measures of comparative fit, whereas NNFI measures relative fit by comparing noncentrality per degree of freedom All of the indexes are generalized to permit use of Wald and Lagrange multiplier statistics An example illustrates the behavior of these indexes under conditions of correct specification and misspecification The new fit indexes perform very well at all sample sizes

21,588 citations

Book
01 Jan 1958
TL;DR: The psychology of interpersonal relations as mentioned in this paper, The psychology in interpersonal relations, The Psychology of interpersonal relationships, کتابخانه دیجیتال و فن اطلاعات دانشگاه امام صادق(ع)
Abstract: The psychology of interpersonal relations , The psychology of interpersonal relations , کتابخانه دیجیتال و فن آوری اطلاعات دانشگاه امام صادق(ع)

15,254 citations


Additional excerpts

  • ...Social psychologists have also addressed interpersonal forgiving from time to time (Darby & Schlenker, 1982; Gahagan & Tedeschi, 1968; Heider, 1958; Horai, Lindskold, Gahagan, & Tedeschi, 1969; Weiner, Graham, Peter, & Zmuidinas, 1991)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A scale of current subjective distress, related to a specific event, was based on a list of items composed of commonly reported experiences of intrusion and avoidance, and responses indicated that the scale had a useful degree of significance and homogeneity.
Abstract: Clinical, field, and experimental studies of response to potentially stressful life events give concordant findings: there is a general human tendency to undergo episodes of intrusive thinking and periods of avoidance. A scale of current subjective distress, related to a specific event, was based on a list of items composed of commonly reported experiences of intrusion and avoidance. Responses of 66 persons admitted to an outpatient clinic for the treatment of stress response syndromes indicated that the scale had a useful degree of significance and homogeneity. Empirical clusters supported the concept of subscores for intrusions and avoidance responses.

7,692 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Dyadic Adjustment Scale as discussed by the authors is a measure for assessing the quality of marriage and other similar dyads, which is designed for use with either married or unmarried cohabiting couples.
Abstract: This study reports on the development of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, a new measure for assessing the quality of marriage and other similar dyads. The 32-item scale is designed for use with either married or unmarried cohabiting couples. Despite widespread criticisms of the concept of adjustment, the study proceeds from the pragmatic position that a new measure, which is theoretically grounded, relevant, valid, and highly reliable, is necessary since marital and dyadic adjustment continue to be researched. This factor analytic study tests a conceptual definition set forth in eariler work and suggests the existence of four empirically verified components of dyadic adjustment which can be used as subscales [dyadic satisfaction, dyadic cohesion, dyadic consensus and affectional expression]. Evidence is presented suggesting content, criterion-related, and construct validity. High scale reliability is reported. The possibility of item weighting is considered and endorsed as a potential measurement technique, but it not adopted for the present Dyadic Adjustment Scale. It is concluded that the Dyadic Adjustment Scale represents a significant improvement over other measures of marital adjustment, but a number of troublesome methodological issues remain for future research.

6,899 citations