The present study tested the efficacy of a 6-hr self-directed workbook intervention designed to increase self-forgiveness and reduce self-condemnation among perpetrators of interpersonal offenses. University students (N = 204) were randomly assigned to either an immediate treatment or wait-list control condition, and assessments were administered on 3 occasions. Treatment led to increases in self-forgiveness and decreases in self-condemnation. Stronger treatment effects were associated with (a) lower levels of dispositional self-forgivingness, (b) higher levels of transgression severity, and (c) higher dose of treatment. In summary, the workbook appeared to facilitate self-forgiveness among perpetrators of interpersonal wrongdoing, though replication trials are needed to build from these preliminary findings.

Empirical interest in virtues and their benefits has increased in recent years. In the present study, we test the efficacy of a workbook intervention to promote humility. Participants (N = 59) were randomly assigned to a humility condition (n = 26; 7.5-hour workbook) or a control condition (n = 33; non-action). Participants in the humility condition reported greater increases in humility across time than did participants in the control condition, who did not change in humility over time. Participants in the humility condition also increased in forgivingness and patience and decreased in general negativity more than did participants in the control condition. Our findings demonstrate the efficacy of the intervention with both religious and non-religious individuals, consistent with both a Christian and secular classical valuing of humility.

A self-directed workbook intervention adapted from the REACH Forgiveness intervention provides an adjunct to traditional psychotherapy that could assist the mental health community to manage the burden of unforgiveness among victims of interpersonal harm.

Multiple psychoeducational and psychotherapeutic interventions are available to aid victims of offense in the arduous process of forgiving wrongdoers. These interventions often require that trained professionals deliver the intervention, which is costly. In the present study, a Christian version of Worthington’s REACH Forgiveness intervention was adapted into a nominally 6-hr self-directed workbook for Christians who experienced an offense within their religious community. College students (N = 52) completed the workbook within a randomized waiting-list design with 3 assessments. A significant multivariate Condition × Time interaction showed that people improved while working on the workbook and maintained gains after completion. The workbooks produced a larger effect size in reducing unforgiveness than benchmarks of previous REACH Forgiveness psychoeducational interventions of comparable duration. Effect size fell within the upper limit of the standard of change. We conclude that workbook treatments may be cost-effective and easily disseminated. Additional workbook intervention studies are warranted.

We present two intervention studies designed to promote humility and other virtues. In Study 1, we compared the PROVE Humility workbook (Lavelock, Worthington, & Davis, 2012/2013) to alternative workbooks, each designed to promote a particular virtue (e.g., forgiveness, patience, self-control) or mood state (positivity). Participants who completed the PROVE Humility workbook reported greater increases in humility and other virtues when compared to participants in the other conditions. In Study 2, we revised the workbook and tested it against a test-retest control condition. Study 2 replicated the findings from Study 1, such that participants who completed the PROVE Humility workbook reported improvements in humility and other virtues (e.g., forgivingness and patience), as well as reductions in negative affect. These findings support the idea of humility being a master virtue, and we recommend future directions for the clinical application of humility.