Tagged: “Forgiving”

An Unprecedented “Big Data” Study in Australia Shows the Association between Forgiveness and Well-Being in Children and Adolescents

December 23, 2025 No comments

Pexels.com, Photo by Catarina Sousa

A recent study with 79,670 children and adolescents (aged 7 to 18) in Australia examined whether those who report favorably on forgiveness also have sound psychological health. They concluded their Abstract this way: “These big data findings provide firm evidence that, like adult samples, forgiveness and self-forgiveness are factors in promoting psychological wellbeing, at least among Westernized youth and adolescents.” Of course, because this was not a cause-and-effect study, it is not clear that forgiveness and self-forgiveness promote psychological well-being.  It could be the reverse: Those who are feeling well find it easier to forgive.  Yet, this study is important because it is the first to use such an impressively large sample to examine forgiveness.  The reference to this work is this:

Flaherty, E.M., Strelan, P. & Kohler, M. Forgiveness, self-forgiveness, and child and adolescent mental health: Big data findings from an Australian youth cohort. Journal of Youth and Adolescence (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-025-02285-7

 

Dr. Suzanne Freedman Has a Forgiveness Article Published with the Des Moines Register Newspaper

December 22, 2025 No comments

Dr. Suzanne Freedman

On December 6, 2025, Dr. Suzanne Freedman, a professor at The University of Northern Iowa, had a guest column in the Des Moines Register entitled “What We Get Wrong about Forgiveness and Why It Matters.”  In this insightful work, she makes the point that forgiving a person for an injustice does not require an apology.  Otherwise, too much power is given to the one who acted unfairly.  She further argues that to forgive is not to automatically reconcile, especially if the other remains untrustworthy.  Further, to forgive is not only to give up anger because forgiveness, as a moral virtue, challenges the forgiver to see the humanity in the other person.  This can take time, and the one who was offended should resist being pressured into a quick and superficial forgiveness.  Thank you, Dr. Freedman, for your careful clarification regarding forgiveness for the general public.  The article can be accessed here:

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2025/12/06/understanding-forgiveness-matters/87625676007/

 

Worldwide Requests for Our Research Tools and Forgiveness Curriculum Guides

November 28, 2025 No comments

Photo by Pixabay, Pexels.com

Since the beginning of 2025, our International Forgiveness Institute has received requests for our forgiveness research tools and forgiveness curriculum guides from the following 40 countries:

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

College Students, Forgiveness, and Well-Being

November 27, 2025 No comments

Photo by Cristian Loayza, Pexels.com

In a study of 463 Spanish university students done in 2025, the researchers reported positive correlations among forgiveness, hope, and self-esteem.  They reported negative correlations among forgiveness and anger, anxiety, and depression.  The authors suggest that preparing the students for a healthy entry into the workplace as adults could be enhanced if universities had forgiveness programs for the students.

The reference to the article is this:

Bonete S, Molinero C, Sendra S and González De Abreu AM (2025) A path to better mental health among emerging adults: forgiveness as a solution to interpersonal conflicts. Frontiers in  Psychology, 16:1477283. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1477283