Forgiving Others towards Self-Happiness: A Meta-Analysis Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12928/jehcp.v13i2.27717Abstract
This article presents a meta-analytic study examining the relationship between forgiving others and personal happiness. Data were collected from fifteen sources across thirteen articles, involving a total of 6,651 participants (57% female; 43% male). The results, using a random effects model, indicate a significant positive relationship between forgiveness and happiness (z = 5.793; p < 0.001; 95% CI (0.179; 0.360)). The correlation is moderate, with the confidence interval ranging from 0.179 to 0.361. This meta-analysis supports previous studies that suggest a positive correlation between forgiving others and increased happiness. Specifically, individuals who are willing to forgive tend to experience higher levels of happiness compared to those who do not forgive. Age and country of origin showed no significant differences. The implications of this study suggest that age and country of origin are not relevant factors for justifying a lack of forgiveness
References
Amanze, R. U., & Carson, J. (2019). Measuring forgiveness: Psychometric properties of a new culturally sensitive questionnaire. The Bolton Forgiveness Scale (BFS). Mental Health Religion & Culture. DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2020.1716211
Anderson, P., Jané-Llopis, E., & Cooper, C. (2011). The imperative of well-being. Stress Health 27 353–355. 10.1002/smi.1433 [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
Asici, E. & Sari, H.I. (2021). A Proposed Model to Explain Happiness in College Students: The Roles of Perceived Parenting Styles, Emotional Self-Efficacy, and Forgiveness. Journal of Adult Development. 28. 1-14. 10.1007/s10804-021-09378-0.
Ayten, A. (2012). How religion promotes forgiveness: The case of Turkish Muslims. Archiv fur Religionspsychologie / Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 34(3), 411–425. https://doi.org/10.1163/15736121-12341243
Bartholomaeus, J., & Strelan, P. (2016). Just world beliefs and forgiveness: The mediating role of implicit theories of relationships Personality and Individual Differences. Volume 96, Pages 106-110, ISSN 0191-8869, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.02.081.
Batik, M. V., Bingol, T. Y., Kodaz, A. F., & Hosoglu, R. (2017). Forgiveness and subjective happiness of university students. International Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 6, No. 6. Doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v6n6p149.
Berry, J. W. et al. (2001). Dispositional forgivingness: Development and construct validity of the transgression narrative test of forgivingness (TNTF). Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Boehm, J.K., Ruberton, P.M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2017). The promise of fostering greater happiness. In: Snyder C.R., editor. The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology. 3rd ed. Oxford Academic; Oxford, UK. pp. 944–958. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
Burnette, J. L., Davisson, E. K., Finkel, E. J., Van Tongeren, D. R., Hui, C. M., & Hoyle, R. H. (2014). Self-control and forgiveness: a meta-analytic review. Soc. Psycho. Personal. Sci. 5, 443–450. doi: 10.1177/1948550613502991
Card, N. A. (2011). Applied meta-analysis for social science research. New York: Guilford Press.
Cohen, A.B., Malka, A., Rozin, P., & Cherfas, L. (2006). Religon and Unforgible Offenses. Journal of Personality, 74(1), 85-117.
Cohen, J. (1997). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. New York, NY: Academic Press.
David, R., Singh, S., Ribeiro, N., & Gomes, D. R. (2022). Does Spirituality Influence Happiness and Academic Performance? Religions, 13(7), 617. MDPI AG. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rel13070617
Davis, D.E. et al. (2015). Forgiving the self and physical and mental health correlates: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Counseling Psychology
Eldeleklioglu, J. (2015). Predictive effects of subjective happiness, forgiveness, and rumination on life satisfaction. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, vol. 43, no. 9, Oct. pp. 1563+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A435359845/AONE?u=googlescholar&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=71c3d2b2. Accessed 22 Nov. 2023.
Enright, R. D. (1996). Counseling within the forgiveness triad: On forgiving, receiving forgiveness, and self forgiveness. Counseling and Values, 40(2), 107-126. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161007X.1996.tb00844.x
Enright, R. D. (2015). 8 keys to forgiveness. W.W. Norton & Company.
Enright, R. D., & Fitzgibbons, R. P. (2015). Forgiveness therapy: An empirical guide for resolving anger and restoring hope. American Psychological Association. Gassin, E. A. (2001). Interpersonal forgiveness from an eastern orthodox perspective. Journal of Psychology and Theology.
Ercengiz, M., Safali, S., Kaya, A., & Turan, M. E. (2022). A hypothetic model for examining the relationship between happiness, forgiveness, emotional reactivity and emotional security. Current Psychology. 42. 10.1007/s12144-022-02909-2.
Fincham, F. D., Beach, S. R. H., & Davila, J. (2004). Forgiveness and conflict resolution in marriage. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(1), 72–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893 3200.18.1.72.
Garcia-Vazquez, F. I., Valdes-Cuervo, A. A., Martínez-Ferrer, B. & Parra-Perez, L. G. (2020) Forgiveness, gratitude, happiness, and prosocial bystander behavior in bullying. Front. Psychol. 10:2827. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02827
Gilam, G., Abend, R., Shani, H., Ben-Zion, Z., & Hendler, T. (2019). The anger-infused ultimatum game: a reliable and valid paradigm to induce and assess anger. Emotion 19, 84–96. doi: 10.1037/emo0000435.
Han, H., Liauw, I., & Kuntz, A. F. (2019). Moral identity predicts the development of presence of meaning during emerging adulthood. Emerg. Adulthood 7, 230–237. doi: 10.1177/2167696818758735
Hojjat, M., & Ayotte, B.J. (2013). Forgiveness and Positive Psychology, in M. Hojjat, and Duncan Cramer (eds), Positive Psychology of Love, Series in Positive Psychology; online edn, Oxford Academic, 26 Sept. 2013), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199791064.003.0009, accessed 7 Nov. 2023.
Hook J. N., Worthington E. L., Utsey S. O., Davis D. E., & Burnette J. L. (2012). Collectivistic self-construal and forgiveness. Counseling and Values, 57, 109-124.
Hui, E. K., & Chau, T. S. (2009). The impact of a forgiveness intervention with Hong Kong Chinese children hurt in interpersonal relationships. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 37, 141–156. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069880902728572.
Hunter, J. E., & Schmidt, F. L. (1990). Methods of meta-analysis: Correcting error and bias in research findings. Sage Publications, Inc.
Hu, S. et al. (2005). A study on interpersonal forgive and revenge of undergraduates and their links with depression. Psychological Development and Education.
Jaufalaily, N. & Himam, F. (2017). Resilience as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Forgiveness and Happiness Among College Students. Anima Indonesian Psychological Journal http://dx.doi.org/10.24123/aipj.v32i3.626, Vol. 32, No. 3, 121-127 0215-0158121.
Jiang, F., Yue, X., Lu, S., & Yu, G. (2015). Can you forgive? It depends on how happy you are. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 56(2), 182-188. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12185.
Karduz, F., & Saricam, H. (2018). The relationships between positivity, forgiveness, happiness, and revenge. Revista Romaneasca pentru Educatie Multidimensionala, 10(4), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.18662/rrem/68
