Italian husbands (n = 79) and wives (n = 92) from long-term marriages provided data on the role of marital quality, affective reactions, and attributions for hypothetical partner transgressions in promoting forgiveness. Structural equation modeling revealed that, as hypothesized, positive marital quality was predictive of more benign attributions that, in turn, facilitated forgiveness both directly and indirectly via affective reactions and emotional empathy. Unexpectedly, marital quality did not account for unique variance in forgiveness. Compared to husbands, wives' responsibility attributions were more predictive of forgiveness, whereas empathy was a better predictor of forgiveness in husbands than in wives. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the burgeoning therapeutic literature on forgiveness.

McCullough, Rachal, et al.'s (1998) social-psychological framework of forgiveness informed a longitudinal study that examined the extent to which marital forgiveness is determined by social-cognitive (the offended spouse's rumination and emotional empathy) and relationship variables (the quality of the relationship in which the offense took place). In the study, 119 husbands and 124 wives from long- and medium-term marriages in north Italy provided data at two time points separated by a 6-month interval. Structural equation models showed that rumination and empathy independently predicted concurrent marital forgiveness. Forgiveness in turn predicted concurrent marital quality. Finally, reciprocal directions of effect emerged between forgiveness and marital quality over time. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for promoting forgiveness, and future research directions are outlined.

Three studies involving 328 married couples were conducted to validate the Marital Offence-Specific Forgiveness Scale, a new measure assessing offence-specific forgiveness for marital transgressions. The studies examined the dimensionality; internal consistency; and discriminant, concurrent, and predictive validity of the new measure. The final scale comprised 2 distinct correlated dimensions, 1 positive (Benevolence) and 1 negative (Resentment-Avoidance), both of which had adequate internal consistency. The 2 dimensions discriminated marital forgiveness from affective empathy, rumination, attributions, and marital quality. Convergent validity of the new scale was indicated by significant relationships between its underlying dimensions and a host of predicted sociocognitive, relationship, trait, and well-being correlates of forgiveness. Providing evidence for predictive validity, forgiveness dimensions accounted for variability in relationship variables over a 6-month period.

This study investigates self-forgiveness for real hurts committed against the partner in a romantic relationship (N = 168 couples). Using a dyadic perspective, we evaluated whether offender self-forgiveness, conceived as a bidimensional construct distinct from self-excusing, was uniquely related to both own and partner relationship satisfaction. For both males and females, offending partners were more satisfied with their romantic relationship to the extent that they had more positive and less negative sentiment and thoughts toward themselves, whereas victimized partners were more satisfied with the relationship when the offending partner had less negative sentiment and thoughts (but not more positive ones) toward himself/herself. The implications of these findings for understanding self-forgiveness and its pro-relationship effects in romantic couples are discussed.