Evolution-minded researchers posit that the suite of human cognitive adaptations may include forgiveness systems. According to these researchers, forgiveness systems regulate interpersonal motivation toward a transgressor in the wake of harm by weighing multiple factors that influence both the potential gains of future interaction with the transgressor and the likelihood of future harm. Althoug...

This study explored secondary traumatization among wives of former POWs. Forgiveness and self-differentiation were investigated for their role in wives’mental and marital distress. Participants included wives (N 1⁄4 82) of former Israeli POWs (18 with PTSD [posttraumatic stress disorder] and 64 without PTSD) and a control group of 72 women whose husbands fought in the war but who were neither P...

Narcissistic entitlement impedes forgiveness in ways not captured by other robust predictors (e.g., offense severity, apology, relationship closeness, religiosity, Big Five personality factors), as demonstrated in 6 studies. Narcissistic entitlement involves expectations of special treatment and preoccupation with defending one’s rights. In Study 1, entitlement predicted less forgiveness and gr...

Dyadic data from 679 committed couples were used to examine associations between commitment, forgiveness, and perceptions of partner's relationship self-regulation (RSR) behaviors-that is effort and strategies that partners exert to maintain the relationship. We found that for both partners, higher self-reports of commitment and forgiveness were associated with higher perceptions of their partn...

In two studies, the authors sought to identify the mathematical function underlying the temporal course of forgiveness. A logarithmic model outperformed linear, exponential, power, hyperbolic, and exponential-power models. The logarithmic function implies a psychological process yielding diminishing returns, corresponds to the Weber-Fechner law, and is functionally similar to the power law unde...

forgiveness and empathy are factors which are influential in improving the relationships between people, themselves can be affected by various factors in turn. the purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between the styles of attachment to god and forgiveness and empathy among female students in the city of qom. 250 students were selected from the city of qom by cluster sam...

Revenge is the natural human response to interpersonal transgressions. However, given the benefits of forgiveness, it is important to consider how forgiveness can be facilitated. Many factors have been shown to be associated with forgiveness, ranging from situational factors (e.g., perception of the transgression) to dispositional factors (e.g., personality traits). This study aims to extend re...

Forgiveness has frequently been theorized to be related to decreased psychological distress, and longitudinal survey research is important for the examination of this relationship. The prospective relation of forgiveness to psychological distress symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) at a later time point (an average of 36 weeks later) was examined in a sample of 182 female undergrad...

The present study investigates experiential avoidance and forgiveness, two general response styles to emotional distress that may impact reactions to trauma exposure, as potential mediators of the link between interpersonal trauma exposure and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a cross–sectional survey of 229 undergraduate students reporting interpersonal trauma exposure. Utilizin...