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This research investigated the effectiveness of a forgiveness education program on reducing anger and ethnic prejudice and improving forgiveness in Iranian adolescents. There were 224 (Persian, Azeri, and Kurdish) male and female students in 8th grade who were selected from 3 provinces: Tehran, Eastern Azerbaijan, and Kurdestan. Schools were randomly assigned to 2 groups of experimental (N ϭ 123) and control (N ϭ 101) students. Measures included the Enright Forgiveness Inventory, Spielberger's State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, and the Ethnic Prejudice Scale, administered at pretest, posttest, and follow-up. The experimental group had forgiveness education by classroom teachers. The results indicated that the experimental group was higher in forgiveness and lower in ethnic prejudice, state anger, trait anger, and anger expression compared with the control group. This difference was statistically significant in the follow-up phase. It seems that forgiveness education in schools can be an important means of reducing anger and ethnic prejudice. Educational Impact and Implications StatementResearch on forgiveness has shown its effectiveness in reducing resentment and increasing wellbeing. Forgiveness education in schools, as a new approach for reducing anger and ethnic prejudice, offers a unique opportunity for both psychological health and community peace. This can work in Eastern and Western cultures.

This study investigates individual and group cognitive-behavioral interventions in decreasing psychological symptoms and enhancing the psychological status of Iranian prison inmates. A random sample of 180 males is placed in three equal groups: an individual cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) group, an individual and group CBT group, and a control group. General Health Questionnaire, Symptom Checklist-90- Revised, and diagnostic interviews based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.) are used before and after intervention. MANOVA indicates that both methods improve the psychological status of the inmates and reduce their symptoms, but the combined treatment is more efficient than the individual therapy. In a 1-year follow-up after inmate release, recidivism in the individual and combined therapy groups is zero. The return rate of participants in the control group is 15%. Results of the study demonstrate that both individual and group CBT are effective in reducing psychological symptoms. However, the impact of combined therapy is stronger than individual CBT.

The present study examines the psychometric properties of the Farsi version of Spielberger's (1988) State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-2) for Iranian university students. 1140 students were selected from Tehran University, and -Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 with one of the five instruments were completed by them. These instruments consisted of Multi-dimensional Anger Inventory (MAI; Siegel, 1986), Over-controlled Hostility Scale (O-H: Megargee, Cook, & Mendelson Bortner, 1976) Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI; Argyle, 1998), Emotional Intelligence (FEIS-41; Besharat, 2007) and NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-PI; Mc Cera & Costa , 1999). The results showed a significant relation between STAXI-2 and its subscales, and the majority of scores on parallel instruments. Factor analysis indicated the existence of multi-factorial model that consistent with the original structure. According to the findings, STAXI-2 has a reasonable reliability, internal consistency, and construct, content, concurrent, convergent, divergent and discriminant validity. Therefore, this tool can be used in research and clinical settings.