Interpersonal mindfulness and forgiveness: Examining the mediating roles of anger rumination and state anger

Abstract

Measuring mindfulness without accounting for specific contexts may lead to controversial results. This study attempted to examine whether the newly proposed construct of interpersonal mindfulness, mindfulness as it happens within the interpersonal context, was connected to forgiveness and the mechanisms behind this connection. Data were collected from 312 participants using measures of interpersonal mindfulness, trait mindfulness, anger rumination, state anger, self‐reported forgiveness, and forgiving behavior. Results showed that interpersonal mindfulness was significantly associated with both self‐reported forgiveness and forgiving behavior even while accounting for trait mindfulness. Mediation analysis revealed that anger rumination and state anger could mediate this link separately and sequentially, but only when trait mindfulness was uncontrolled. When controlling for trait mindfulness, the mediating role of state anger remained significant, but neither anger rumination nor the serial combination did. An alternative model was also supported, showing that after controlling for interpersonal mindfulness, trait mindfulness was indirectly associated with forgiveness through anger rumination and the serial mediating effect of anger rumination and state anger, but not state anger. These findings suggest that interpersonal mindfulness is more suitable for predicting interpersonal forgiveness than trait mindfulness. State anger may operate as a proximal mechanism in explaining how mindfulness relates to interpersonal forgiveness, whereas anger rumination may operate at a more distal level.

Relational mindfulness themes in descriptions of intimate encounters across six interpersonal contexts

“…Emotion regulation has been specifically associated with mindfulness in forgiveness and conflict contexts. Yang et al (2022) report that interpersonal mindfulness is a stronger predictor of interpersonal forgiveness than trait mindfulness, and that interpersonal and trait mindfulness are both related to forms of anger regulation. Karremans et al, 2020b provide an important description of how emotion regulation functions within the forgiveness process, "When people mindfully attend to their hurt feelings regarding a past offense, they seem to experience less intense negative emotions, and more forgiving emotions, toward the offender" (p. 306).…”