What is it about?
In this research, we challenge the view that unforgiveness is always and inevitably unhealthy by presenting a nuanced view of unforgiveness. We show that emotional-ruminative unforgiveness, but not unforgiveness as a stance, is correlated with negative health.
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Why is it important?
Our findings suggest that the negative effects of unforgiveness may be attributable to the lingering negative affect and rumination that are sometimes, but not necessarily always, part of the experience of unforgiveness rather than unforgiveness per se. In other words, it might be possible to remain unforgiving and not suffer ill health as a result.
Perspectives
The forgiveness literature has tended to make some pretty broad assumptions about the value of forgiving and the harm that unforgiveness may breed. Our work suggests that some of these assumptions require testing and, in particular, that unforgiveness is not always and inevitably unhealthy.
Dr Susan D Boon
University of Calgary Calgary Centre for Clinical Research
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The devil in the details: Individual differences in unforgiveness and health correlates, Personality and Individual Differences, May 2016, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.02.005.
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