Forgiveness and marital quality: Precursor or consequence in well-established relationships?

To examine potential causal relations between forgiveness and marital quality a sample of married couples (N1⁄4 91) provided data regarding forgiveness and marital quality on two occasions separated by a 12-month interval. Structural equation modeling was used to examine direction of effects. For women, paths emerged from forgiveness to marital quality and vice versa. For men, the direction of effect was from marital quality to forgiveness. The concurrent association between the two constructs mediated the longitudinal relationship between them for wives but not for husbands. These results are discussed in relation to an emerging body of theory and research on the role of forgiveness in marriage.