Variables Affecting Categories of Forgiving Behaviors in Relationships

The purpose of this study was to define active forgiveness, passive forgiveness, passive non-forgiveness, and active non-forgiveness in order to develop a testing instrument to determine patterns of forgiving behaviors when people have been wronged. The subjects for this research were 144 student volunteers available through classes at a middle-sized Midwestern university. Contemporary literature which focused on the forgiveness of wrongdoing provided the basis for the questionnaire which was designed by the researcher and used in this study. The passive non-forgiveness index was shown to be less reliable than the indexes for active and passive forgiveness, and active non-forgiveness. Three of the 10 demographic variables (age, sex, and geographic background) were shown to significantly affect forgiving behaviors. This research provides a basic foundation for the study of forgiving patterns as they relate to communication principles.