Abstract
While the forgiveness literature is rapidly growing, little attention has been paid to the general public’s motivations for forgiving. Using a qualitative approach, this study examined 100 participants’ stated reasons for forgiving. The following seven themes have emerged: (1) forgiveness is the key to inner peace, (2) relationships matter, (3) forgiveness is conditional, (4) they forgive because of love/concern for the other in the human community, (5) forgiveness is a (moral and religious) duty, (6) they forgive for the sake of others, and (7) they forgive for growth. When considering motivations for forgiveness, participants tended to focus on what they could restore or gain as a consequence of forgiving, supporting the findings of past studies. However, some notable differences were also found when questions were asked in different ways. Major findings, implications for those in the helping professions, and limitations and future directions are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Akhtar, S., & Barlow, J. (2018). Forgiveness therapy for the promotion of mental well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 19, 107–122. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838016637079
Akhtar, S., Dolan, A., & Barlow, J. (2017). Understanding the relationship between state forgiveness and psychological wellbeing: A qualitative study. Journal of Religion and Health, 56, 450–463. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0188-9
Baskin, T. W., & Enright, R. D. (2004) Intervention studies on forgiveness: A meta-analysis. Journal of Counseling & Development 82(1) 79–90 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2004.tb00288.x
Carey, L. B., & Hodgson, T. J. (2018). Chaplaincy, spiritual care and moral injury: Considerations regarding screening and treatment. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 619. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00619
Cohen, K. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316446002000104
Educational Psychology Study Group. (1990). Must a Christian require repentance before forgiving? Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 9, 16–19.
Enright, R. D. (2001). Forgiveness is a choice. APA Books.
Enright, R. D. (2012). The forgiving life. APA Books.
Enright, R. D., Eastin, D. L., Golden, S., Sarinopoulos, I., & Freedman, S. (1992). Interpersonal forgiveness within the helping professions: An attempt to resolve differences of opinion. Counseling and Values, 36, 84–103. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-007X.1991.tb00966.x
Enright, R. D., & Fitzgibbons, R. P. (2015). Forgiveness therapy. APA Books.
Exline, J., Worthington, E. L., Jr., Hill, P., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Forgiveness and justice: A research agenda for social personality psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7, 337–348. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0704_06
Freedman, S., & Chang, W.-C.R. (2010). An analysis of a sample of the general population’s understanding of forgiveness: Implications for mental health counselors. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 32 (1), 5–34. https://doi.org/10.17744/mehc.32.1.a0x246r8l6025053
Gull, M., & Rana, S. A. (2013). Manifestation of forgiveness, subjective well being and quality of life. Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 23, 17–36. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maryam-Gul-2/publication/261833846
Hanke, K., & Fischer, R. (2013). Socioeconomical and sociopolitical correlates of interpersonal forgiveness: A three-level meta-analysis of the enright forgiveness inventory across 13 societies. International Journal of Psychology, 48, 514–526. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2011.651086
Hsieh, H.-F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687
Jeter, W. K., & Brannon, LAl. (2015). Increasing awareness of potentially helpful motivations and techniques for forgiveness. Counseling and Values, 60, 186–200. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167204264237
Kearns, J. N., & Fincham, F. D. (2004). A prototype analysis of forgiveness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 838–855. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167204264237
Kim, J. J., Enright, R. D., & Wong, L. (2020). Compassionate love and dispositional forgiveness: Does compassionate love predict dispositional forgiveness? Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2020.1739598
Kim, J. J., Kaplan, H. M., Oliver, M. J., & Whitmoyer, N. S. (2021). Comparing compassionate love and empathy as predictors of transgression-general and transgression-specific forgiveness. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 49, 112–125. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091647120926482
Krause, N., & Hayward, R. D. (2015). Aging, forgiveness, and health. In L. L. Toussaint, E. L. Worthington, & D. R. Williams (Eds.), Forgiveness and health (pp. 205–220). Springer.
Macaskill, A. (2005). Defining forgiveness: Christian clergy and general population perspectives. Journal of Personality, 73, 1237–1265. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00348.x
McCullough, M. E., Rachal, K. C., Sandage, S. J., Worthington, E. L., Jr., Brown, S. W., & Hight, T. L. (1998). Interpersonal forgiving in close relationships: II. Theoretical elaboration and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1586–1603. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.6.1586
McCullough, M. E., Worthington, E. L., Jr., & Rachal, K. C. (1997). Interpersonal forgiving in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 321–336. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.73.2.321
Mortensen, K., & Hughes, T. L. (2018). Comparing Amazon’s mechanical turk platform to conventional data collection methods in the health and medical research literature. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 33, 533–538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-017-4246-0
Purcell, N., Griffin, B. J., Burkman, K., & Maguen, S. (2018). Opening a door to a new life: The role of forgiveness in healing from moral injury. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 498. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00498
Rasmussen, K. R., Stackhouse, M., Boon, S. D., Comstock, K., & Ross, R. (2019). Meta-analytic connections between forgiveness and health: The moderating effects of forgiveness-related distinctions. Psychology and Health, 34, 515–534. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2018.1545906
Riek, B. M., & Mania, E. W. (2012). The antecedents and consequences of interpersonal forgiveness: A meta-analytic review. Personal Relationships, 19, 304–325. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2011.01363.x
Song, M. J., & Enright, R. D. (2020). A philosophical and psychological examination of “justice first”: Toward the need for both justice and forgiveness when conflict arises. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000468
Strelan, P., McKee, I., Calic, D., Cook, L., & Shaw, L. (2013). For whom do we forgive? A functional analysis of forgiveness. Personal Relationships, 20, 124–139. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2012.01400.x
Strelan, P., Crabb, S., Chan, D., & Jones, L. (2017). Lay perspectives on the costs and risks of forgiving. Personal Relationships, 24, 392–407. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12189
Thomas, K. A., & Clifford, S. (2017). Validity and mechanical turk: An assessment of exclusion methods and interactive experiments. Computers in Human Behavior, 77, 184–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.08.038
Toussaint, L. L., Worthington, E. V., Jr., & Williams, D. R. (Eds.). (2015). Forgiveness and health. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9993-5
Wade, N. G., Hoyt, W. T., Kidwell, J. E. M., & Worthington, E. L., Jr. (2014). Efficacy of psychotherapeutic interventions to promote forgiveness: A meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 82, 154–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035268
Worthington, E. L., Jr. (2003). Forgiving and reconciling: Bridges to wholeness and hope. IVP.
Worthington, E. L., Jr., & Scherer, M. (2004). Forgiveness is an emotion-focused coping strategy that can reduce health risks and promote health resilience: Theory, review, and hypotheses. Psychology and Health, 19, 385–405. https://doi.org/10.1080/0887044042000196674
Younger, J. W., Piferi, R. L., Jobe, R. L., & Lawler, K. A. (2004). Dimensions of forgiveness: The views of laypersons. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21, 837–855. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407504047843
Zechmeister, J. S., & Catherine, R. (2002). Victim and offender accounts of interpersonal conflict: Autobiographical narratives of forgiveness and unforgiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 675–686. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.4.675
Zembylas, M., & Michaelidou, A. (2013). Exploring children’s perceptions of forgiveness at the interpersonal and political levels: Emerging evidence in Cyprus. Education, 3–13(41), 265–281. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2011.574641
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Human or Animal Rights
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of HELSINKI and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, J.J., Tracy, E.L. & Enright, R.D. Motivations for Forgiving an Offender with Practical Implications for Those in the Helping Professions: A Qualitative Study. J Relig Health 61, 3761–3776 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-022-01505-9
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-022-01505-9