Andrea J. Miller

Sex differences in forgiveness and mental health in recently married couples

Using self-report assessments, from a positive psychology framework, we examined recently-married couples for potential sex-related differences in (1) overall marital forgiveness, (2) perceptions of partners forgiveness, and (3) relationships between sex, marital satisfaction, marital forgiveness, and self-reported mental health. Participants were 311 community-based couples married less than a year. Men reported more marital forgiveness in the marriage and more empathy toward their spouse after a still-troublesome transgression than did females. Furthermore, females perceived their male partners as being more forgiving of them than male partners perceived their female partners’ forgiveness. Marital satisfaction, severity of hurts, and sex accounted for variance in marital forgiveness. Sex, severity of hurts, frequency of transgressions, marital satisfaction, and marital forgiveness accounted for variance in mental health symptoms.

Training Parents in Forgiving and Reconciling

Teaching parents how to forgive transgressions of parenting partners may reduce negative emotions, increase positive emotions, and, thus, decrease parenting stress. We implemented a waiting-list design to investigate the efficacy of a 9-hour psychoeducational group intervention, Forgiveness and Reconciliation through Experiencing Empathy (FREE), presented to 27 parents and caregivers of children 0–9 years old. Participants receiving FREE exhibited increased forgiveness of a target offense by the parenting partner and increased forgiveness of all parenting offenses. This study offers initial evidence that an intervention to promote forgiveness and reconciliation in parents could be beneficial and might improve parenting relations.

Forgiveness-Reconciliation and Communication-Conflict-Resolution Interventions Versus Retested Controls in Early Married Couples

The first 6 months of marriage are optimal for marriage enrichment interventions. The Hope-Focused Approach to couple enrichment was presented as two 9-hr interventions--(a) Handling Our Problems Effectively (HOPE), which emphasized communication and conflict resolution, and (b) Forgiveness and Reconciliation through Experiencing Empathy (FREE). HOPE and FREE were compared with repeated assessment controls. Couples were randomly assigned and were assessed at pretreatment (t1); 1 month posttreatment (t2) and at 3- (t3), 6- (t4), and 12-month (t5) follow-ups using self-reports. In addition to self-report measures, couples were assessed at t1, t2, and t5 using salivary cortisol, and behavioral coding of decision making. Of 179 couples who began the study, 145 cases were analyzed. Both FREE and HOPE produced lasting positive changes on self-reports. For cortisol reactivity, HOPE and FREE reduced reactivity at t2, but only HOPE at t5. For coded behaviors, control couples deteriorated; FREE and HOPE did not change. Enrichment training was effective regardless of the focus of the training.

Action-Oriented Research: A Primer and Examples

Action-oriented research is defined as generating knowledge through applied collaborative university-community interventions that can simultaneously contribute to local communities and add to general knowledge. Few examples currently exist in the Christian integration literature. We present a conceptual article encouraging Christians who integrate their practice, research, and Christianity to undertake more of this difficult and costly, yet important research. Some benefits and difficulties in conducting action-oriented research are described with specific research examples. As a case study, we briefly report a failed initial effort, and then report a successful research example in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention-sponsored Multisite Violence Prevention Program (MVPP). We conclude that the imperfect case study can reveal lessons for researchers and community agencies that could make future action-oriented research of higher quality. We encourage researchers and practitioners to collaborate on action-oriented research to eventually lead to high quality research like the MVPP.

Forgiveness Working Forgiveness, Health, and Productivity in the Workplace

Purpose: Associations between forgiveness and health promotion in the workplace were examined as mediating effects of workplace interpersonal stress. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Multiple Washington, DC, office-based and Midwestern manufacturing workplaces. Participants: Study 1: 108 employees (40 males and 68 females); mean age was 32.4 years. Study 2: 154 employees (14 males and 140 females); mean age was 43.9 years. Measures: Questionnaires measured forgiveness, unproductivity, absenteeism, stress, and health problems. Analysis: Bivariate and multiple correlation/regression and structural equation models were used. Indirect effects were estimated with bootstrapping methods. Results: In study 1, forgiveness of a specific workplace offense was inversely associated with unproductivity (r = −.35, P < .001) and mental (r = −.32, P = .001) and physical (r = −.19, P = .044) health problems. In study 2, trait forgiveness was inversely associated with unproductivity (β = −.20, P = .016) and mental (β = −.31, P < .001) and physical health problems (β = −.28, P = .001), and workplace interpersonal stress partially mediated these associations (indirect effects = −.03, −.04, −.05, respectively). Conclusion: The association of forgiveness and occupational outcomes is robust. Forgiveness may be associated with outcomes by (at least partially) reducing stress related to workplace offenses. Forgiveness may be an effective means of coping following being emotionally hurt on the job that may promote good health, well-being, and productivity.