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The present study examined the relationship among attachment patterns, dispositional forgiveness, and perceived social support of emerging adults and probed into whether there existed any difference, in terms of gender or relationship status, in their attachment patterns. The participants (N=201) aged 18-25 years, were recruited on-line and completed the Revised Adult Attachment Scale: close relationship version (RAAS), Trait Forgiveness Scale (TFS), and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support Scale (MSPSS). Data analyses using non-parametric tests revealed significant positive relationship among attachment patterns barring anxious attachment, to dispositional forgiveness and perceived social support of young adults. Anxious attachment was negatively correlated with perceived social support and had no relationship to dispositional forgiveness. No significant gender difference or relationship status difference in adult attachment patterns were observed. The intricacies in attachment patterns, dispositional forgiveness, and perceived social support and how it affects the interpersonal interactions of young adults are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dispositional forgiveness is defined as the ability to reframe a perceived transgression from negative to neutral or positive, such that the outcome of the transgression is no longer perceived as adverse. The utility of dispositional forgiveness for individuals and relationships is clear; however, the specific factors that encourage favorable outcomes associated with dispositional forgiveness remain unclear. In two studies I assessed individuals' self, other, and situational forgiveness; faith in, dependability on, and predictability with same-sex best friends; cognitive and emotional well-being; sent affectionate communication and verbal aggression to same-sex best friends; and relationship satisfaction with same-sex best friends. Results indicated that faith in and dependability on same-sex best friends mediated the association between other forgiveness and cognitive and emotional well-being. In addition, affectionate communication mediated the association between other forgiveness and relationship satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the conceptual link between love and forgiveness, empirical evidence for the relationship between the two is scarce. Also, controversy exists surrounding the use of a self-evaluated forgiveness tendency as a measure of dispositional forgiveness. One hundred adults filled out an online survey to provide the data for this study. Compassionate love, commitment to forgiveness, and valuing forgiveness were moderately associated with dispositional forgiveness. Compassionate love predicted dispositional forgiveness over and above all other measures. The feasibility of measuring dispositional forgiveness accounting for the occurrences of actual transgressions and the presence of compassionate love among those showing forgivingness are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationships between spirituality and forgiveness have been of considerable interest to researchers. However, results of their studies remain ambiguous. In the present study, we explored associations between spiritual intelligence and forgiveness both as a state and as a trait. Respondents (605) aged 18–79 completed the Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory, the Heartland Forgiveness Scale, and the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory. The results revealed that all aspects of spiritual intelligence showed positive correlations with most dimensions of trait forgiveness, whereas some showed a negative association with revenge and positive correlation with benevolence motivation. Moreover, different aspects of dispositional forgiveness mediated the link between two spiritual intelligence dimensions (personal meaning production and transcendental awareness) and episodic forgiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to evaluate the factor structure and metric invariance of the Chilean version of the Heartland Forgiveness Scale, which measures dispositional forgiveness to self, others and situations. For this purpose, a sample of 549 Chilean adults (50.6% women, 49.4% men) aged between 18 and 65 years (M=40.65 years, SD=13.83) was evaluated. The results showed that a six-factor structure is the one that obtained the best fit among the different solutions examined. This configuration considers factors referring to the three objects of forgiveness, which are further divided into positive and negative dimensions. The retained factor structure was invariant between men and women. In addition, significant associations were identified with a measure of episodic forgiveness, as well as with indicators of mental health and life satisfaction in the expected directions. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social well-being reflects the perception of one's social functioning, which plays an important role in physical and psychological health. However, the exact neuroanatomical substrate for social well-being remains unclear. To address the issue, we employed the voxel-based morphometry method to probe the neuroanatomical basis of individual variation in social well-being in young healthy adults (n  = 136). The results revealed a significant negative association between social well-being and regional gray matter density (rGMD) in an anatomical cluster that mainly includes the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) that has been involved in emotion regulation and social cognition. Furthermore, a balanced 4-fold cross-validation using the machine learning approach revealed that rGMD in the left OFC could be reliably related to social well-being. More importantly, the multiple mediation analysis revealed that neuroticism and dispositional forgiveness independently mediated the association between rGMD in the left OFC and social well-being. In addition, all these results remained stable when subjective socioeconomic status was controlled. Together, our results provide the initial evidence that the OFC is a neuroanatomical substrate for social well-being and demonstrate that the OFC is a crucial neural site linking neuroticism and dispositional forgiveness to social well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examined 3 motives and 3 techniques for forgiveness to assess differences between people high or low in dispositional forgiveness (HDF and LDF, respectively). HDF participants rated all motives as more compelling and familiar than did LDF participants. Forgiveness being the right thing to do was rated as more persuasive and familiar; however, mental and physical health benefits were rated as compelling but less familiar forgiveness motives. LDF participants rated the various techniques as less familiar and more difficult compared with HDF participants. Overall, participants rated forgive and forget as the most familiar but most difficult technique to implement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because even subtle forms of racial discrimination can damage well-being, identifying individual differences that shape this stress process is important. Dispositional forgiveness has been shown to influence how people perceive and react to interpersonal transgressions, yet its role in the context of racial discrimination has not received much research attention. In the current study, participants completed an initial measure of dispositional forgiveness and then considered a scenario that could be deemed racially discriminatory. Next, participants' perceptions of the scenario, negative affect, and cognitive performance were assessed. Dispositional forgiveness predicted all three outcomes such that more forgiving individuals were less likely to view the event as racially discriminatory and showed lower negative affect and greater cognitive performance after reading the scenario. Moreover, race moderated these relationships such that forgiveness played a more beneficial role for ethnic minorities than for whites. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The study compared dispositional forgiveness among homicide offenders and non-incarcerated people, living in the same geographic areas, and matched regarding educational level and religious involvement. Forty-seven prisoners and 294 lay people were presented with questionnaires measuring aggression, dispositional forgiveness, and conceptualizations regarding forgiveness. Compared to the control group, homicide offenders reported stronger resentment toward others, lower ability at seeking forgiveness, lower capacity at unconditionally forgiving others, and a stronger tendency at considering that forgiveness is an immoral behavior. Offenders' higher level of aggressiveness did not fully explain these differences in dispositional forgiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between personality correlates associated with ego-defensiveness and forgiveness in an attempt to understand why some individuals are more forgiving than others, both in general and in specific situations involving transgressions. Specifically, a positive association between forgiveness and self-esteem and negative associations between forgiveness and need for structure and narcissism were predicted. Participants completed the Self-Esteem scale, the Personal Need for Structure scale, the Narcissism scale, and the Tendency to Forgive scale. They then competed in a game with two other players, during which one player committed a transgression. State forgiveness was measured with the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations scale. Hypotheses were generally supported, suggesting that certain traits associated with ego-defensiveness can inhibit the ability to be forgiving (dispositional forgiveness) and to actually forgive (state forgiveness). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The present study examined the validity of three putative measures of dispositional forgiveness, as well as a measure of trait rumination, with respect to measures of mental health and forgiveness for a specific offense. Two hundred undergraduates completed the Tendency to Forgive scale, the Attitudes Toward Forgiveness scale, the Transgression Narrative Test of Forgivingness, and a multi-dimensional measure of trait rumination, along with measures of depression, life satisfaction, self-esteem, agreeableness, neuroticism, attachment, and aggression. Participants also recounted a specific offense they had experienced and reported the extent to which they had forgiven their offender. Results strongly supported the discriminant validity of the Tendency to Forgive scale with regard to both mental health (depression and life satisfaction) and state forgiveness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]