Validating A New Behavioural Measure of Forgiveness and Revenge: The Relationship Between Behavioural Forgiveness, Well-being, and Relationship Quality

Abstract

Over the past three decades, researchers have devised a number of measures to examine forgiveness that capture motivations, traits, and states. Despite this, the domain of behavioural forgiveness has been largely underutilised and, as such, no self-report measure of behavioural forgiveness currently exists. This study aims to further validate a new Behavioural Measure of Forgiveness and Revenge developed to address this gap in the literature (Bradley et al., 2019; Hilferty et al., 2022). To achieve this, the predictive power of the new behavioural measure was investigated for two important outcomes of forgiveness: well-being and relationship quality. A sample of N = 253 was examined on measures of behavioural forgiveness and revenge, relationship quality, and four theoretical representations of wellbeing: self-esteem, self-compassion, perceived sense of internal control, and state empowerment. Results from Pearson's bivariate correlation and hierarchical regression analyses partially support the research hypotheses, confirming an association between enacted forgiveness and revenge behaviours, and the self-assessed quality of participants' relationships. Relationship quality was a significant predictor of both behaviours. Findings did not support the predictive power of the new behavioural measure for subjective wellbeing, or an association between the behaviours and wellbeing variables. Findings indicate the new Behavioural Measure of Forgiveness and Revenge may have practical and theoretical implications by informing future forgiveness interventions, or by contributing to the triangulation of forgiveness research. More research is necessary to establish the nomological network of the new behavioural measure and determine its validity in relation to psychological constructs. Keywords: Behavioural Forgiveness, Well-being, Relationship Quality, Validity