Forgiveness and marital infidelity

Extract

[...] Results supported the hypotheses that understanding of forgiveness increases with age, and also showed high correlations between justice and forgiveness, and forgiveness and religiosity. No gender differences were found (Enright, Santos, & Al-Mabuk, 1989). Enright's forgiveness inventory was compared with two happiness measures in a study done in the U.K. with students as subjects (Maltbey et al., 2005). The study sought to find a correlation between forgiveness and two types of happiness: hedonic and eudaimonic, or short-term and more global, respectively. [...]

[...] A study between marital partners and the effects of forgiveness was conducted to explore the relationship between forgiveness and martial satisfaction in relation to marital stability. Researchers hypothesized that forgiveness levels would be higher for first married adults than for remarried adults, that there would be a significant difference between first married and remarried couples on marital satisfaction, and that a significant positive correlation between forgiveness and marital satisfaction would exist (Orathinkal and Vansteenwegen, 2006). A total of 787 respondents from Belgium first married and 363 remarried adults completed the Enright Forgiveness Inventory, and the Maudsley Marital Questionnaire. [...]

[...] Another study with a similar design evaluated the effectiveness of forgiveness treatment on men who were hurt by their partner's decision to have an abortion (Coyle and Enright, 1997). Ten men were screened for evidence that they were having psychological difficulty as a result of their partner's decision to have an abortion. They also completed the Enright Forgiveness Inventory, as well as anger, anxiety, and grief scales. Subjects were then divided into treatment and waiting-list control groups. The treatment group received twelve weeks of approximately 90-minute sessions and were informed in the first session that forgiveness was the treatment goal (Coyle and Enright, 1997). [...]

[...] Research on forgiveness in marriage has been done (Orathinkol and Vansteenwegen, 2006), but not in the context of marital infidelity. The sample will be divided into two groups, one receiving treatment intervention based on Enright's treatment model. Dependent variables will include assessments of depression, anxiety, and Enright's Forgiveness Inventory. This study predicts that after successful completion of the forgiveness therapy intervention, the treatment group will have statistically different scores on the Beck Depression Inventory and the Enright Forgiveness Inventory as compared to the pre-test measures and the control group. [...]

[...] Treatment Providers Treatment was administered by two licensed counselors with at least ten years of counseling experience, and two years of experience using Enright's forgiveness model, with any population. The counselors were both doctorate level and regularly saw clients at the university counseling center. Random counseling sessions were audiotaped and rated for validity against the treatment model by graduate students blind to the hypothesis. Procedures The group of 60 participants was divided evenly into two groups one as a control, with treatment to be given 4 weeks later than the experimental group. [...]