Effects of a group forgiveness intervention on forgiveness, perceived stress, and trait‐anger

2006/03/14 by Alex H. S. Harris, Frederic Luskin, Sonya B. Norman +4 · 1 citation
Psychology · #Forgiveness and Related Behaviors #Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health

paper · doi:10.1002/jclp.20264

Abstract

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of a 6-week forgiveness intervention on three outcomes: (a) offense-specific forgiveness, (b) forgiveness-likelihood in new situations, and (c) health-related psychosocial variables, such as perceived stress and trait-anger. Participants were 259 adults who had experienced a hurtful interpersonal transgression from which they still felt negative consequences. They were randomized to a forgiveness-training program or a no-treatment control group. The intervention reduced negative thoughts and feelings about the target transgression 2 to 3 times more effectively than the control condition, and it produced significantly greater increases in positive thoughts and feelings toward the transgressor. Significant treatment effects were also found for forgiveness self-efficacy, forgiveness generalized to new situations, perceived stress, and trait-anger.

Citations

• Stress and the Individual
• The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions.
• Psychotherapy outcome research: Methods for reporting variability and evaluating clinical significance

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• Efficacy of psychotherapeutic interventions to promote forgiveness: A meta-analysis.

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