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Promoting Forgiveness at a Christian College: A Comparison of the REACH Forgiveness and Forgive for Good Methods

Loren L. Toussaint
Brandon J. Griffin
Everett L. Worthington, Jr.
Mitchell Zoelzer
Frederic Luskin
All your life you’re told forgiveness is for you. But we’re never told why it’s for you. It means you’re working on owning your life.
Shani Tran
Therapist and Founder, The Shani Project
Forgiveness is nothing less than the way we heal the world. We heal the world by healing each and every one of our hearts. The process is simple, but it is not easy.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
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Promoting Forgiveness at a Christian College: A Comparison of the REACH Forgiveness and Forgive for Good Methods

Loren L. Toussaint
Brandon J. Griffin
Everett L. Worthington, Jr.
Mitchell Zoelzer
Frederic Luskin
NO. of participants
Date
2020
Type of Evidence
Type of Paper
Primary Empirical Study
Empiricism
open access
Yes
No
sample size
99

The present study is the first randomized, controlled trial comparing REACH Forgiveness and Forgive for Good, two of the most commonly used approaches to promote forgiveness. Additionally, the combined effects of psychoeducation and a community forgiveness intervention were examined. Psychoeducation participants were 99 Luther College students randomly assigned to six hours of one of two types of forgiveness training led by undergraduate facilitators or a control condition. The community forgiveness intervention involved campus-wide modifications to the environment that were difficult for most students to not notice. Unforgiveness and forgiveness were measured at pre-, post-intervention, and two-month follow-up. Both forgiveness groups reported decreased unforgiveness and increased forgiveness pre- to post-intervention, and these gains were maintained at follow-up. Both methods were found to be equally effective, can be taught by undergraduates, and were effective in tandem with a community intervention.

Research
North America
Educators
Supporting Research
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