The conceptualisation of forgiveness among Turkish children and adolescents

This study examined (a) how Turkish children and adolescents define forgiveness, (b) the association between self‐reported forgiveness and the concepts participants hold and (c) the association between self‐reported forgiveness and age. Three hundred and sixty‐seven Turkish children in primary (N = 220) and secondary schools (N = 147) were involved in the study. Participants were asked to define forgiveness, and the study used the Enright Forgiveness Inventory for Children (EFI‐C). Participants' conceptions of forgiveness were categorised into four groups: conditional forgiveness, reconciliation, ignoring the hurtful event and affective reactions. Half of all the participants in the study were found to be in the conditional forgiveness category. Turkish children were found to be mostly in the category of conditional forgiveness, reconciliation and affective reactions compared with adolescents. Adolescents were mainly found to be in the ignoring the hurtful event category. The highest self‐reported forgiveness mean was in the affective reactions category. Participants were commonly offended by friends, siblings, teachers and fathers. No correlation was found between self‐reported forgiveness and age. The present results expand the literature of forgiveness by presenting evidence that Turkish children's and adolescents' understanding of forgiveness moderately relates to theoretical definitions.     

Dispositional forgiveness of self, others, and situations

Six studies regarding forgiveness are presented. The Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS), a self-report measure of dispositional forgiveness (with subscales to assess forgiveness of self, others, and situations) was developed and demonstrated good psychometric properties. Forgiveness correlated positively with cognitive flexibility, positive affect, and distraction; it correlated negatively with rumination, vengeance, and hostility. Forgiveness predicted four components of psychological well-being (anger, anxiety, depression, and satisfaction with life); forgiveness of situations accounted for unique variance in these components of psychological well-being. Forgiveness and hostility demonstrated equivalent, inverse associations with relationship duration, and forgiveness accounted for unique variance in relationship satisfaction, even when controlling for trust. Forgiveness level correlated positively with decreased negativity in statements written about transgressions in the present versus the past tense.     

Religiosity and forgiveness among first-married and remarried adults

The current study examined the relationship between religiosity and forgiveness among first-married and remarried adults. Seven hundred and eighty-seven married adults from the Flanders region in Belgium completed the Enright Forgiveness Inventory and a four-item Religiosity Scale measuring forgiveness and religiosity, respectively. The results indicated that religiosity positively correlated (p?=?0.0001, r?=?0.15) with forgiveness. There was a significant difference between the religiosity of the first-married and the remarried adults (p?=?0.0001 (two-tailed) d?=?0.61). In an analysis by gender, the women showed a statistically significantly higher religiosity than did men (p?=?0.00005 (one-tailed) d?=?0.28). Among the demographic variables, age (r?=?0.26), number of children (r?=?0.35), and number of years in marriage (r?=?0.34) showed a statistically significant (p?=?0.0001) positive correlation with religiosity. The basic purpose of this study was to inform clinicians of the value of forgiveness and religiosity in therapeutic interventions.     

Seeking forgiveness

Conclusion There is no intention in this paper of disputing that all sin is against God: that is the meaning of the term. But this implies neither that the outcroppings of one's sinfulness do not frequently harm one's neighbor, nor that in such instances confession should still be to God alone. It has been maintained that at times it is appropriate, and even necessary, both for the sake of the minister and for the parishioner, that a minister should seek the forgiveness of someone he has wronged.The problems involved in appraising the appropriateness or otherwise of such behavior in a given case do not appear to be different in quality or degree from other ethical decisions. It is, indeed, probable that many arguments against the appropriateness of this step are in fact rationalizations to cover the felt inability to take such a step.Protestants make general confessions in public worship, and presumably also private confession to God. The issue in question is whether it is not also desirable that at times they undertake the additional, precise, and discriminating confession to those they have wronged, and seek their forgiveness.Despite the preliminary nature of the argument and its illustrative material, and the inability to demonstrate this as the significant variable in positive results following such behavior, it is held that a strong case can be made for it on biblical, pastoral, and psychodynamic grounds. In view of its potential importance in the ministry of reconciliation it is deserving of serious attention and research.     

Dispositional Optimism as a Predictor of Health Changes among Cardiac Patients

We examined in a longitudinal study whether dispositional optimism (as measured by the Life Orientation Test) predicts success in making health changes associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease. Subjects were 22 patients participating in an 18 week cardiac rehabilitation program. As part of the program all patients were assigned goals (e.g., reduce weight by 20 lbs) designed to decrease the risk of a cardiac event. Optimism measured at the outset of the program was associated with greater success in achieving lower levels of saturated fat, body fat, and global coronary risk, and with greater success in increasing aerobic capacity by the end of the program. Moreover, these effects were significant after controlling for the magnitude of the goal, the number of health changes, and negative affect.     

Abortion among adolescents

In most countries, adolescents' access to abortion is limited by restrictions on legal abortion. Abortion is legal in the United States, but many states require parental consent or notification. Legislation mandating parental consent has been justified by several assumptions, including high risk of psychological harm from abortion, adolescents' inability to make an adequately informed decision, and benefits of parental involvement. Empirical data raise questions about the first 2 assumptions: Studies suggest a relatively low risk associated with abortion, and adolescents seeking abortion appear to make an informed choice. Less is known about effects of parental involvement. The authors review available research and discuss policy debates over parental consent in the United States and the international context.     

Dispositional greed

Extant research on greed has focused on situational determinants of greedy behavior, ignoring individual differences in greed. Defining greed as insatiability, the present paper introduces a six item Dispositional Greed Scale. Two studies demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity and test–retest reliability. Specifically, they demonstrate that greed is related to but different from materialism. It is also positively related to entitlement, egoism, social comparison, envy, competition and productivity orientation and negatively related to impression management and satisfaction with life. The Dispositional Greed Scale enables researchers to disentangle the impact of personality from that of the situation on greedy behavior.     

Dispositional and situational coping and mental health among Palestinian political ex-prisoners

We examined, first, differences in dispositional and situational coping, and psychological distress between political ex-prisoners and their matched controls, and second, coping effectiveness in protecting mental health from impacts of imprisonment and military trauma. Thirdly, we tested the hypothesis that compatibility ("goodness of fit") between dispositional and situational coping would predict low psychological distress. Participants were 184 men recruited from a Palestinian community sample, 92 were former political prisoners and 92 non-prisoners. The dispositional coping was assessed as a general response style to hypothetical stressors and situational coping as responses to their own traumatic experiences. Psychological distress was measured by SCL-90-R, and posttraumatic stress disorder, depression and somatoform symptoms by scales based on CIDI 2.1 diagnostic interview. The results showed that, compared to non-prisoners, the political ex-prisoners employed less avoidant, denying, and emotion-focused coping strategies. Military trauma was associated with avoidant and denying coping only among non-prisoners. The ex-prisoners showed more mental health and medical problems, especially when exposed to military trauma. None of the coping styles or strategies were effective in protecting the mental health in general or in either groups. However, main effect results revealed that the high level of active and constructive and low level of emotion-focused coping were associated with low levels of psychiatric symptoms and psychological distress.     

Relationships among Dispositional Attributional Style,Trauma-Specific Attributions,and PTSD Symptoms

The learned helplessness model and its various revisions suggest that causal attributions influence responses to events. This study examined relationships among the 3-factor symptom clusters of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) represented in the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and the individual dimensions of dispositional attributional style and trauma-specific attributions (i.e., internal–external, stable–unstable, global–specific). Relationships among attributions and clusters of PTSD symptoms represented by the 4-factor dysphoria model were also examined. Trauma-specific attributions were most predictive of PTSD symptoms, with higher associations for avoidance and numbing symptoms compared to arousal symptoms in the three-factor model and higher associations for dysphoria symptoms compared to arousal and avoidance symptoms in the four-factor dysphoria model. Results suggest that cognitive vulnerabilities could underlie the comorbidity between PTSD and depression and might represent a high-impact target for treatment.     

Barriers to forgiveness

Society generally encourages individuals to forgive their transgressors because forgiveness can yield many psychological, physiological, and social benefits (Exline & Baumeister, 2000 ). Nevertheless, victims face barriers to forgiving others, and other people face obstacles that prevent them from encouraging victims to forgive. We aim to provide insight into the various barriers that deter forgiveness by examining the role of the various parties involved—victims, transgressors, and uninvolved third parties—in creating barriers to forgiveness. We contend that beliefs held by these various parties significantly reduce the likelihood that victims will forgive their transgressors. By identifying how these beliefs impede forgiveness, we can begin to understand more fully why convincing victims to forgive is often a challenge. In our discussion, we also suggest ways by which victims, transgressors, and third parties can overcome these barriers to forgiveness.     

The unique influence of attachment to god on forgiveness among incarcerated males

Religious constructs associated with forgiveness are understudied among incarcerated males. Attachment and forgiveness theory supported hypotheses that attachment to God would uniquely influence forgiveness, controlling for other biopsychosocial resources in regression modeling. Results, utilizing data collected from 261 male prison inmates, ages 45 to 82, demonstrated that each of three blocks of predictors explained significant amounts of variance in forgiveness: (1) biological and control variables; (2) social support and positive evaluation of life; and (3) attachment to God. The final model explained 53.7% of the total variance. Discussion focuses on the use of attachment to God and forgiveness assessments.     

Loneliness among late adolescents

The extent of loneliness among late adolescents was assessed by means of the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. Findings suggest that although moderate loneliness was reported by most participants, a number of young people evidenced a high degree of loneliness. A comparison of lonely and nonlonely adolescents yielded relatively few significant differences. Of particular interest, however, was the finding that lonely and nonlonely adolescents use different strategies to deal with feelings of loneliness. Implications for working with lonely adolescents are offered.     

Wellness factors among adolescents

This study was directed toward the identification of components of wellness in adolescents ages 12-17. Content for wellness-learning games aimed at youth was derived from the professional judgment of an advisory panel composed of experts in preventive medicine, health education, and adolescent development. The panel was polled by mail in a Delphi-like series of structured inquiries to gather information about the physical, social, and emotional characteristics of healthy adolescents and to identify the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors appropriate to the promotion or support of those characteristics. The study resulted in a consensus of 39 attributes considered important in the development of healthy adolescents.     

Mathematics of forgiveness

This study was aimed at determining the integration rule--summation or averaging--underlying the forgiveness schema. The main reason for distinguishing between these structures is that they have very different practical implications regarding the influence of various factors specific to each case on the propensity to forgive. In a summative model, the impact of the different factors and the direction of the effects are constant. For example, the presence of apologies always is a positive element even when these apologies assume a very weak form. By contrast, in an averaging model, the apologies can be a positive or a negative element depending on the current level of propensity to forgive and the form of the apologies. Two experiments were conducted using the functional theory of cognition framework. Experiment 1 applied the missing information test. Experiment 2 applied the credibility of information test. In both experiments, clear evidence favored a summative rule for judging willingness to forgive from circumstantial information such as presence or absence of intent, presence of absence of apologies, and degree of cancellation of consequences.