To Forgive or Not to Forgive? Beliefs about Costs and Benefits of Forgiveness, Motivation to Forgive and Well-Being
To Forgive or Not to Forgive? Beliefs about Costs and Benefits of Forgiveness, Motivation to Forgive and Well-Being

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between beliefs about costs and benefits of forgiveness, motivation to forgive and well-being. Motivation to forgive was measured by TRIM Inventory consisting of three scales – avoidance, revenge and benevolence motivation. Well-being was measured by Life satisfaction scale and PANAS. The scales for measuring beliefs about costs and benefits of forgiveness (CBFS) were specially developed for this study. Two factors of beliefs about benefits of forgiveness (benefits for oneself and benefits for the other/relationship) and two factors of beliefs about costs of forgiveness (failure to protect oneself and failure to educate the offender) were revealed. Results of multiple regression revealed two significant predictors of life satisfaction, belief in benefits of the forgiveness for the other/relationship as positive predictor and failure to protect oneself as cost of forgiveness as negative predictor. Failure to protect oneself and revenge motivation were positive predictors, and belief in benefits of the forgiveness for the other/relationship was negative predictor of negative affect. There were no significant predictors of positive affect. Results suggest that believing in benefits of forgiveness rather than in costs can improve our well-being by increasing life satisfaction and lowering negative affect.

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