Man Yee Ho

Forgiving the Self and Physical and Mental Health Correlates: A Meta-Analytic Review

Self-forgiveness has been conceptualized as a coping strategy that may improve health and well-being. To better understand the functions of self-forgiveness, this meta-analysis examines the correlates of self-forgiveness associated with physical and mental health. For physical health, across 18 samples and 5,653 participants, the correlation was .32. For psychological well-being, across 65 samples and 17,939 participants, the correlation was .45. To augment this primary focus on physical and mental health correlates, we estimated the relationships between self-forgiveness and specific mental health constructs and relationship outcomes. Implications for future basic and applied research on self-forgiveness are discussed.

The Differential Effects of Forms and Settings of Exposure to Violence on Adolescents’ Adjustment

This study investigated the link between exposure to violence and psychosocial adjustment for 442 Chinese secondary school students in Form 1-3. The students completed an inventory assessing exposure to violence through witnessing and through direct victimization in different settings (community, school, and home). Multiple measures and informants (i.e., self-report, teacher report, and school report) were used to assess emotional, behavioral, and cognitive functioning in adolescents. The results of this study showed that overall exposure to violence was related to emotional and behavior problems. High rates of exposure to violence across multiple contexts were found in this sample. After controlling for the co-occurrence of risk factors (e.g., exposure to violence in other settings), both witnessing school violence and being victimized by domestic violence were associated with emotional problems, whereas being victimized by community violence was related to behavior problems. These results suggest that there are differential effects of risks associated with different forms and settings of exposure.

State narcissism and aggression: the mediating roles of anger and hostile attributional bias

Prior research has documented a relationship between narcissism and aggression but has focused only on dispositional narcissism without considering situational factors that may increase narcissism temporarily. This study explored the possibility that an increase in state narcissism would foster aggressive responding by increasing anger and hostile attributional bias following unexpected provocation among 162 college students from China. We created a guided-imagination manipulation to heighten narcissism and investigated its effects on anger, aroused hostile attribution bias, and aggressive responses following a provocation with a 2 (narcissism/neutral manipulation) × 2 (unexpected provocation/positive evaluation condition) between-subjects design. We found that the manipulation did increase self-reported state narcissism. The increase in state narcissism in turn heightened aggression, and this relation was mediated by increased anger. Regardless of the level of state narcissism, individuals were more aggressive after being provoked and this effect of provocation was mediated by hostile attributional bias. The findings indicate that narcissism can be temporarily heightened in a nonclinical sample of individuals, and that the effect of state narcissism on aggression is mediated by anger. Differences between state and trait narcissism and possible influences of culture are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 42:333-345, 2016.

Efficacy of REACH Forgiveness Across Cultures

OBJECTIVE This study investigates the efficacy of the 6-hour REACH Forgiveness intervention among culturally diverse undergraduates. METHOD Female undergraduates (N = 102) and foreign extraction (46.2%) and domestic (43.8%) students in the United States were randomly assigned to immediate treatment or waitlist conditions. Treatment efficacy and the effect of culture on treatment response were assessed using measures of emotional and decisional forgiveness across 3 time periods. RESULTS Students in the treatment condition reported greater improvement in emotional forgiveness, but not decisional forgiveness, relative to those in the waitlist condition. Gains were maintained at a 1-week follow-up. Although culture did not moderate the effect of treatment, a main effect of culture on emotional forgiveness and marginally significant interaction effect of culture on decisional forgiveness were found. CONCLUSION The REACH Forgiveness intervention was efficacious for college students from different cultural backgrounds when conducted in the United States. However, some evidence may warrant development of culturally adapted forgiveness interventions.

Relationship Between Peer Victimization and Reactive-Proactive Aggression in School Children

Objective: Prior research has shown that reactive aggression is positively related to general peer victimization, whereas the findings for proactive aggression are mixed. This study aimed to investigate which specific forms of the peer-victimization model are related to reactive and proactive aggression. With the model, developed by Mynard and Joseph (2000), they identified 4 specific factors of peer victimization according to their nature, namely (a) Physical Victimization, (b) Verbal Victimization, (c) Social Manipulation, and (d) Attacks on Property. Method: We tested the hypotheses that the 4-factor peer-victimization model applies to Chinese youth and that reactive and proactive aggression have specific relationships with the 4 factors in the model. The Reactive–Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ; Raine et al., 2006) was administered to 8,604 Hong Kong Chinese schoolchildren, 8–16 years of age, selected from 10 primary and 10 secondary schools, to assess their Reactive and Proactive Aggression. Results: The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the 4-factor peer-victimization model fit the sample well. After controlling for Reactive Aggression, Proactive Aggression was positively associated with Physical Victimization and Attacks on Property, but negatively associated with Verbal Victimization. After controlling for Proactive Aggression, Reactive Aggression was positively associated with Social Manipulation, Physical Victimization, and Verbal Victimization. Conclusion: The results suggest that the 4-factor peer-victimization model applies to Hong Kong Chinese schoolchildren and that there are significant relationships between peer victimization (total and 4 forms) and Reactive Aggression, and significant relationships exist between peer victimization (total and 3 out of 4 forms) and Proactive Aggression.

Be a peace maker: Examining the relationship between religiousness and intergroup forgiveness.

This research examined the associations between religiousness, empathy, and intergroup forgiveness. The findings of 2 studies conducted in different intergroup contexts showed that empathy mediated the relationship between religiousness and intergroup forgiveness. In Study 1 (N = 911), intergroup forgiveness immediately right after a deadly hijacking incident in Manila was predicted by religiousness, and this association was mediated by empathy. Study 2 (N = 72) replicated the mediating effect of empathy on the relationship between religiousness and intergroup forgiveness in a different context: after typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed here.

The Contributions of Christian Perspectives and Practices to Positive Psychology

We summarize contributions of Christianity to positive psychology. There are three initial caveats. First, the diversity of Christian views and practices across cultures and throughout history has not been universally positive. Second, positive sources of well-being specifically due to Christianity are challenging to isolate. Third, culture is difficult to separate from religion. Christianity has made contributions to culture and intellectual thought and to individual and societal operations through virtues. Christianity supplements secular views of virtue by a Christian telos as maintaining a faithful and authentic relationship with God and by not being focused on raising up oneself, but about serving. Christianity promotes virtue by strengthening self-control and self-regulation, clarifying and focusing goals, and promoting other (related) virtues. It emphasizes two cardinal virtues—love and forgiveness. Future research directions depend on testing these suppositions. We must formulating testable hypotheses and organize existing research and accumulate additional research addressing each proposition.