Rumination, Emotion, and Forgiveness: Three Longitudinal Studies

In 3 studies, the authors investigated whether within-persons increases in rumination about an interpersonal transgression were associated with within-persons reductions in forgiveness. Results supported this hypothesis. The association of transient increases in rumination with transient reductions...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality and social psychology 2007-03, Vol.92 (3), p.490-505
Main Authors: McCullough, Michael E, Bono, Giacomo, Root, Lindsey M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affect
Affectivity. Emotion
Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
Emotions
Female
Forgiveness
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Hypotheses
Ingroup Outgroup
Interpersonal Interaction
Interpersonal Relations
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Models, Psychological
Motivation
Personality
Personality. Affectivity
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Rumination
Rumination (Cognitive Process)
Social conflict
Social psychology
Studies
Time Factors
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Summary:In 3 studies, the authors investigated whether within-persons increases in rumination about an interpersonal transgression were associated with within-persons reductions in forgiveness. Results supported this hypothesis. The association of transient increases in rumination with transient reductions in forgiveness appeared to be mediated by anger, but not fear, toward the transgressor. The association of rumination and forgiveness was not confounded by daily fluctuations in positive affect and negative affect, and it was not moderated by trait levels of positive affectivity, negative affectivity, or perceived hurtfulness of the transgression. Cross-lagged associations of rumination and forgiveness in Study 3 more consistently supported the proposition that increased rumination precedes reductions in forgiveness than the proposition that increased forgiveness precedes reductions in rumination.
ISSN:0022-3514
1939-1315
DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.92.3.490