Forgiveness.

Abstract

DescriptionThe HFS is an 18-item measure with three six-item subscales (HFS Self, HFS Other, and HFS Situation). Half of the items on each subscale are positively

Forgotten Variables and Older Men in Custody: Negative Childhood Events, Forgiveness, and Religiosity

“…The Enright and Human Development Study Group (1996) defined the construct, self-forgiveness, as “a willingness to abandon self-resentment in the face of one's own acknowledged objective wrong while fostering compassion, generosity, and love toward oneself” (p. 116). The present study found that one of three constructs in the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Thompson & Snyder, 2019), forgiveness of self, was negatively associated with negative childhood events but positively associated with religiosity and social support. This finding provides support for Krause’s (2017) work that linked religiosity with spiritual support, attendance of religious activities, and self-forgiveness (Krause, 2017).…”

“…In addition to forgiveness enhancing health, forgiveness relates to social support by enhancing an individual's trust of others and by increasing the availability of support providers (Krause, 2001; 2008). We employed the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Thompson & Snyder, 2003; 2019) to investigate whether forgiveness of self, others, and situations were significant in our tested model. In sum, studies have positively linked forgiveness to religiosity and both are known to positively associate with mental health outcomes (Allen et al, 2013; Randall & Bishop, 2013) but to date, few if any studies have considered the deleterious influence of childhood adversity on forgiveness, as does the present study.…”

Religious coping, dispositional forgiveness, and posttraumatic outcomes in adult survivors of the Liberian Civil War.

“…The 18-item HFS (Thompson & Snyder, 2003) was used to assess dispositional forgiveness , which Thompson and Snyder (2003) defined as “the framing of a perceived transgression such that one’s attachment to the transgressor, transgression, and sequelae of the transgression is transformed from negative to neutral or positive” (p. 302). The HFS consists of items measuring three possible transgression sources (and thus three targets of forgiveness): forgiveness of self (e.g., “Learning from bad things that I’ve done helps me get over them”), others (e.g., “Although others have hurt me in the past, I have eventually been able to see them as good people”), and situations (e.g., “I eventually make peace with bad situations in my life”).…”

“…Ratings are summed, and higher scores indicate higher levels of dispositional forgiveness. The HFS is a frequently used scale with strong evidence supporting its reliability and validity (Thompson & Snyder, 2003). It has been used in developing countries, including Sierra Leone (Toussaint, Peddle, Cheadle, Sellu, & Luskin, 2010) and Turkey (Bugay & Demir, 2010).…”

“…In contrast, Laufer, Raz-Hamama, Levine, and Solomon (2009) found forgiveness predicted perceived PTG among teenage survivors of terror-related trauma in Israel, but this effect was only present in religiously/spiritually oriented teens. There are several possible reasons for these mixed results, such as differences in (a) age, (b) culture or nationality, (c) type of disaster, or (d) measures used (e.g., both studies used the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory [PTGI; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996], but Fischer [2006] used the Heartland Forgiveness Scale [HFS; Thompson & Snyder, 2003] and Laufer et al [2009] used the Attitudes Toward Forgiveness Scale [Mullet, Houdbine, Laumonier, & Girard, 1998]).…”