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Published on: November 19, 2015
Effects of a group forgiveness intervention on forgiveness, perceived stress, and trait-anger
Alex H S Harris1, Frederic Luskin, Sonya B Norman
1VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Stanford University School of Medicine, Center for Health Care Evaluation, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA. Alexander.Harris2@va.gov
Abstract:
The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of a 6-week forgiveness intervention on three outcomes: (a) offense-specific forgiveness, (b) forgiveness-likelihood in new situations, and (c) health-related psychosocial variables, such as perceived stress and trait-anger. Participants were 259 adults who had experienced a hurtful interpersonal transgression from which they still felt negative consequences. They were randomized to a forgiveness-training program or a no-treatment control group. The intervention reduced negative thoughts and feelings about the target transgression 2 to 3 times more effectively than the control condition, and it produced significantly greater increases in positive thoughts and feelings toward the transgressor. Significant treatment effects were also found for forgiveness self-efficacy, forgiveness generalized to new situations, perceived stress, and trait-anger.
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