The Effect of Forgiveness on Marital Satisfaction in Relation to Marital Stability

The present study examined the association between forgiveness and marital satisfaction in relation to marital stability. It was a comparative study between first-married and remarried adults involving 787 respondents from the Flanders region in Belgium. The current study showed that, although in the overall forgiveness, there was no significant difference between the first-married and remarried, the first-married significantly differed in two subscales of Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI) from the remarried. A significant difference in the marital satisfaction was found between the first-married and remarried adults. The present study also reported a significant positive correlation between forgiveness and general-life adjustment.This study was carried out at the Institute for the Family and Sexuality Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, as part of docotral research.