Forgiveness takes place on an attitudinal continuum from hostility to friendliness: Toward a closer union of forgiveness theory and measurement
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Abstract
Researchers commonly conceptualize forgiveness as a rich complex of psychological changes involving attitudes, emotions, and behaviors. Psychometric work with the measures developed to capture this conceptual richness, however, often points to a simpler picture of the psychological dimensions in which forgiveness takes place. In an effort to better unite forgiveness theory and measurement, we evaluate several psychometric models for common measures of forgiveness. In doing so, we study people from the United States and Japan to understand forgiveness in both nonclose and close relationships. In addition, we assess the predictive utility of these models for several behavioral outcomes that traditionally have been linked to forgiveness motives. Finally, we use the methods of item response theory, which place person abilities and item responses on the same metric and, thus, help us draw psychological inferences from the ordering of item difficulties. Our results highlight models based on correlated factors models and bifactor (S-1) models. The bifactor (S-1) model evinced particular utility: Its general factor consistently predicts variation in relevant criterion measures, including 4 different experimental economic games (when played with a transgressor), and also suffuses a second self-report measure of forgiveness. Moreover, the general factor of the bifactor (S-1) model identifies a single psychological dimension that runs from hostility to friendliness while also pointing to other sources of variance that may be conceived of as method factors. Taken together, these results suggest that forgiveness can be usefully conceptualized as prosocial change along a single attitudinal continuum that ranges from hostility to friendliness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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Forgiveness can be usefully conceptualized as prosocial change along a single attitudinal continuum that ranges from hostility to friendliness.
“A recent study in samples from the United States and Japan found that “forgiveness can be usefully conceptualized as prosocial change along a single attitudinal continuum that ranges from hostility to friendliness” [43].”
From Forgiveness as a Mediator between Psychological Suzhi and Prosocial Behavior in Chinese Adolescents (2022) · cites this paper as [43]
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Forgiveness as a Mediator between Psychological Suzhi and Prosocial Behavior in Chinese Adolescents
Chen, X., Zhao, H., & Zhang, D. (2022) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs12090330 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“A recent study in samples from the United States and Japan found that “forgiveness can be usefully conceptualized as prosocial change along a single attitudinal continuum that ranges from hostility to friendliness” [43].”
Background
- Authors
- Forster, D. E., Billingsley, J., Russell, V. M., McCauley, T. G., Smith, A., Burnette, J. L., Ohtsubo, Y., Schug, J., Lieberman, D., & McCullough, M. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Miami (US)
- North Carolina State University (US)
- Nagoya University (JP)
- Kobe University (JP)
- William & Mary (US)
- Corresponding author
- McCullough, Michael E.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2020-10
- Volume
- 119
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 861-880
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2995928989
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 74
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8
- FWCI
- 7.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- John Templeton Foundation (29165)
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Summer Program (17036)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Forgiveness and Related Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Keywords
- forgiveness, bifactor model, hostility, friendliness, economic games, transgressors, close relationships, methodological factors, item response theory
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attitude, Emotions, Female, Hostility, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Japan, Male, Motivation, Psychometrics, United States, Forgiveness
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