Interpersonal forgiving in close relationships: II: Theoretical elaboration and measurement

“…in an eye-for-an-eye fashion after an oVensive behavior may result in negative reciprocity, in contrast, responding in a forgiving manner may prevent such downward spirals of negativity in the relationship (e.g., McCullough et al., 1998; Rusbult, Verette, Whitney, Slovik, & Lipkus, 1991).”

“For example, forgiveness has been associated with empathy toward the transgressor (McCullough et al., 1997, 1998), judgments of responsibility and blame (Fincham, 2000; Wohl & Branscombe, 2005), rumination (Fincham et al., 2004; Lawler et al., 2003; Paleari, Regalia, & Fincham, 2005), perceived…”

“(TRIM; McCullough et al., 1998) consists of 12 items, scored on a scale of 1 ( strongly disagree ) to 5 ( strongly agree ), that comprise two subscales: Revenge (e.g. “I’ll make him/her pay”; α = .92) and Avoidance (e.g. “I withdraw from him/her”; α = .95).”

“With few exceptions, this change is investigated in terms of reduced negative thoughts, feelings and behaviors towards the offender (eg, Karremans, Van Lange, & Holland, 2005 ; McCullough, Rachal, Sandage, Worthington, Brown, & Hight, 1998 ).”

“Apologies increase victim forgiveness, reduce anger and aggression toward the transgressor, and validate the perceptions of the victim (e.g., Darby & Schlenker, 1982; Eaton, 2006; Exline, DeShea, & Holeman, 2007; McCullough et al., 1998; Ohbuchi, Kameda, & Agarie, 1989).”

“…can be conceptualized as indicators of affect regulation capacities (Skowron and Dendy, 2004), while forgiveness involves responding to interpersonal injustice by regulating negative emotions in the face of unjust offenses without continuing to ruminate on them (McCullough et al., 1997, 1998).”

“…self-reports serve as an optimal measure of forgiveness processes, our conclusions would be bolstered by replications using behavioral or physiological measures of forgiveness (e.g., Witvliet, Ludwig, & Vander Laan, 2001) or offender and informant reports of forgiveness (McCullough et al., 1998).”

“The reliability and construct validity of the TRIM-12 has been established through confirmatory factor analysis, and the measure has been shown to correlate with measures of offense-specific rumination, empathy, and relational closeness (McCullough et al., 1998).”

“…damaged, apologies and explanations have been shown to elicit forgiveness (Ohbuchi et al. 1989; Tavuchis 1991; Lewicki & Bunker 1996; Benoit & Drew 1997; Girard & Mullet 1997; McCullough et al. 1997, 1998; Girard et al. 2002; Witvliet et al. 2002) and promote future trust (De Cremer et al. 2010).”

“Lack of forgiveness was measured with the TransgressionRelated Interpersonal Motivations Inventory (TRIM; McCullough et al., 1998).”

“Namely, when the offense focused on a Note: CHS = Cultural Humility Scale, which reflects perceptions of leader IH; RHS = Relational Humility Scale, which reflects perceptions of leader GH; TRIM = Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivation Inventory; all scales range from 1 to 5.”

“A recent fl urry of research links dispositional forgiveness to a variety of positive psychological dimensions, such as empathy and commitment (Worthington, 1998), trust and compassion (McCullough, Worthington, & Rachal, 1997), religiousness-spirituality (McCullough, 2001), agreeableness and emotional stability (Berry…”

“…York University Judy Eaton Wilfrid Laurier University Three studies, using diverse methodologies and measures, were conducted to examine the role that the regulatory focus of an injured party and of a transgressor (E. T. Higgins, 1997, 2000) plays in explaining the relationship between…”

“This finding is consistent with past work demonstrating that individuals in higher quality relationships are more likely to perceive their partners’ behavior in a positive light (Kearns & Fincham, 2005; McCullough et al., 1998; Murray & Holmes, 1993).”

“Besides these factors, a person’s willingness to forgive an offender importantly depends on the nature of the relationship between the victim and offender (McCullough et al., 1998).”

“Then, they indicated their level of unforgiveness by completing the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations (McCullough et al., 1998), which is an 12-item measure of unforgiveness assessed on a 5-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) in which one rates his or her degree…”

“They then completed a measure of state forgiveness—the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Scale (McCullough & Hoyt, 2002; McCullough et al., 1998)—an 18-item measure of unforgiveness in which individuals rate their degree of avoidance (a 1⁄4 .”

“…and .87 for the TRIM-Revenge have been reported, and the validity of the scale has been demonstrated through expected relationships with a variety of relationship-related measures including relationship satisfaction, closeness, apology and rumination about the offence (McCullough et al., 1998).”

“The apology increased how forgiving participants felt towards the United States military, as indicated by a reduced desire for avoidance and revenge (McCullough et al., 1998).”

“Empathy is considered to facilitate forgiveness, and is perhaps the most crucial aspect of the forgiveness process (Baskin & Enright, 2004; McCullough et al., 1998; McCullough et al., 1997).”

“These exchanges can soothe vengeful feelings, engender forgiveness, increase empathy for the offender, repair damaged interpersonal ties, and speed cardiovascular recovery from anger (Anderson, Linden, & Habra, 2006; Darby & Schlenker, 1982; Lazare, 2004; McCullough et al., 1998; Ohbuchi, Kameda, & Agarie, 1989; altho…”

“Despite decades of scientific and theological research on forgiveness (e.g., McCullough et al., 1998) and revenge (Aquino et al., 2001, 2006) in interpersonal settings, research on forgiveness in organizations has been scarce.”

“…measures, the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI; Enright & Fitzgibbons, 2000) and the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Scale (TRIM; McCullough et al., 1998), participants first identify an interpersonal transgression and then respond (by agreeing or disagreeing) to a series of…”

“They were more likely to seek revenge or escape from the situation following a partner’s transgression, as assessed by the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory (McCullough et al., 1998).”

“Although many studies have observed a correlation between subjective commitment and forgiveness (e.g., Cann & Baucom, 2004; Fehr et al., 2010; Karremans et al., 2003; McCullough et al., 1998; Tsang et al., 2006), Finkel et al.”

“Transgressor-related factors include positive transgressor actions such as apologies, remorseful statements, and attempts to rectify damage caused (McCullough et al., 1998; Ristovski & Wertheim, 2005).”

“An individual attends to this situation and appraises the situation’s familiarity, valence, and value relevance, such as the transgressor’s intention, the severity of the transgression, and closeness to the transgressor (Boon & Sulsky, 1997; McCullough et al., 1998).”

“…of empathy have been shown to cause a variety of relational problems and obstruct pro-social behavior and motivation (Chung, 2013; Hoffman, 1981; McCullough et al., 1998); hence, direct and indirect associations of rumination and lack of empathy with forgiveness and marital satisfaction can be…”

“The transgression recall procedure (McCullough et al., 1998; see also Allemand et al. 2007) was adapted to assess real-life interpersonal transgressions.”

“Interdependence theorists suggest that interpersonal forgiveness is the result of a transformation of motivation (Finkel et al., 2002; McCullough et al., 1998).”

“…recipient's cognitions, affect, and behavior that characterize a general restoration of positive relations between transgressor and victim (Darby & Schlenker, 1982; De Cremer & Schouten, 2008; Gunderson & Ferrari, 2008; McCullough et al., 1998; Ohbuchi, Kameda, & Agarie, 1989; Takaku, 2001).”

“Forgivingness, or dispositional forgiveness, refers to the tendency or willingness to respond to interpersonal harm by regulating negative emotions and relating prosocially toward the offender (McCullough, Worthington, & Rachal, 1997; McCullough et al., 1998; Sandage & Jankowski, 2010; Worthington, 1998).”

“Retaliation intentions were measured using five items from McCullough et al. (1998) that were modified to assess retaliatory intentions in the layoff context.”

“In the current studies we used an empathy-based conceptualization of forgiveness (McCullough, Worthington, & Rachal, 1997; McCullough et al., 1998).”

“…of forgiveness that work through personal characteristics, such as religiosity and empathy, to facilitate positive marital outcomes (Fincham, Beach, & Davila, 2004; Fincham, Hall & Beach, 2006; Fincham, Paleari, & Regalia, 2002; Kachadourian, Fincham, & Davila, 2004; McCullough et al. 1998).”

“Also, in examining the subscales of the TRIM, we find that Benevolence (q¼ .22, 95% CI: .22 .33; k¼ 6, N¼ 1490), Revenge (q¼ .26, 95% CI: .14, .39; k¼ 10, N¼ 2732), and Avoidance (q¼ .19, 95% CI: .01, .37; k¼ 10, N¼ 2745) all significantly correlate with health outcomes, each with overlapping confidence intervals.”

“As a result, the salience of empathy overrides the transgression and leads to a greater likelihood of forgiveness for the transgression (McCullough et al., 1998; McCullough et al., 1997).”

“Self-reported unforgiveness was measured as in Study 1, with the TRIM-12 (McCullough et al., 1998).”

“Aquino et al. (2001) define reconciliation as an effort by the victim to extend acts of goodwill toward the offender in the hope of restoring the relationship ( McCullough, Worthington, & Rachal, 1997, 1998 ).”

“Of course, forgiveness is relevant not just in extreme examples of intergroup conflict and crimes against humanity, but also in more everyday instances in which we wrong each other in interpersonal contexts (McCullough et al., 1998).”

“Compared to others, ruminators form less effective solutions to interpersonal problems (Lyubomirsky & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1995) and are more likely to seek revenge against relationship partners (McCullough et al., 1998).”

“A victim can forgive the transgressor, and this forgiveness can restore the victim’s feelings of closeness with the transgressor (McCullough et al., 1998), increase his or her willingness to cooperate with the transgressor (Karremans & Van Lange, 2004), and improve his or her personal wellbeing (Lawler et al.”

“State unforgiveness. State unforgiveness (the degree of unforgiveness toward a particular offender) was measured with the Transgression Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory (TRIM; McCullough et al., 1998 ), which operationalizes unforgiveness as the desire (or motivation) to seek revenge against and to avoid an…”

“…of avoiding the brand, as well as not buying from the brand, or can be related to active behaviors such as NWOM, insulting, or retaliating the brand such as attacking brand employees or breaking glass and chairs of the brand (H.-M. Lee et al., 2020; Y. L. Lee et al., 2013; McCullough et al., 1998).”

“However, a reputation system working in isolation is not designed to convey the remaining important motivators of forgiveness, e.g. the offender’s intent, regret or willingness to repair an offence (Weiner et al., 1991; Boon and Sulsky, 1997; McCullough et al., 1998).”

“88) and five items derived from the TRIM Scale (McCullough et al., 1998) that assessed their desire to avoid the offender (α=0.”

“In the absence of true or complete forgiveness, negativity surrounding transgressions may fester, weakening relational ties and perceptions of relational quality (McCullough et al., 1998).”

“…of a relationship between forgiveness and psychological (e.g., Coyle & Enright, 1997) and physiological (e.g., Witvliet, Worthington, Root, Sato, Ludwig, & Exline, 2008) benefits; relationship wellbeing (e.g., McCullough et al., 1998) and possibly even physical health (e.g., Lawler et al., 2005).”

“( 1998 ) demonstrated that a one-item measure of forgiveness was significantly correlated with these multi-item factors in two different samples (ranging from absolute values of r (73) = 0.”

“Therefore, individuals are more likely to forgive their partners when the relationship is close, committed, and satisfactory, in part, because of their motivation to maintain such high-quality relationships (McCullough et al., 1998).”

“…defined as a motivational transformation of victims toward offenders, including reductions in negative emotions, thoughts, and behaviors toward offenders and increases in positive emotions, thoughts, and behaviors where possible (Enright 1996; McCullough et al. 1998; Ripley and Worthington 2002).”

“…to their power (Foster & Rusbult, 1999), honor (Cohen, Nisbett, Bodwell, & Schwarz, 1996; Scheff, 1994), selfesteem (Scobie & Scobie, 1998), and perceived control (Baumeister, Stillwell & Heatherton, 1994), and are likely to experience feelings of frustration or anger (McCullough et al., 1998).”

“As empathy is an aspect of the forgiveness process (McCullough et al., 1997), and reducing hostile attributions is not enough to create the desired behavior change (Perren, Ettekal, & Ladd, 2013), the most effective therapeutic impact for peer-victimized youth in the 11- to 15-year-old age range might be achieved thro…”