Diversos estudos têm apontado os benefícios da habilidade empática. Ela está associada à saúde e bem-estar psicológicos, a relacionamentos mais satisfatórios, a comportamentos pró-sociais e morais, à resiliência etc., ao passo que sua ausência está associada a diversos prejuízos pessoais e interpessoais. Como habilidade social, entende-se que a empatia é um fenômeno multidimensional, com aspectos cognitivos, afetivos e comportamentais. Respectivamente, envolve a capacidade de compreender o ponto de vista do outro, de se interessar genuinamente pelo seu bem-estar, e de expressar, por meio de comportamentos verbais e/ou não verbais, sua compreensão e interesse ao interlocutor, permitindo a este se sentir entendido e validado em suas experiências. Esta habilidade tem sido associada, mais recentemente, por diversos estudos internacionais, à capacidade de perdoar um ofensor por suas transgressões. Com isso, o propósito do presente trabalho foi investigar a influência da habilidade empática sobre o perdão interpessoal, em uma amostra brasileira. O perdão também vem sendo considerado uma experiência multifatorial, com domínios cognitivos, afetivos e comportamentais, que abrangem os pensamentos, as emoções e os comportamentos em relação a um ofensor. Para a realização desta investigação, 172 participantes responderam o Inventário de Empatia (IE), a Escala de Atitudes (o Enright Forgiveness Inventory EFI) e uma ficha sobre dados socidemográficos. O IE apresenta quatro subescalas: Tomada de Perspectiva, Sensibilidade Afetiva, Flexibilidade Interpessoal e Altruísmo. O EFI apresenta uma Escala Global de perdão e três Subescalas: Afetiva, Cognitiva e Comportamental. Testes correlacionais e de regressão foram processados a fim de investigar as relações entre os fatores do IE e do EFI, bem como a predição da empatia sobre o perdão. Os resultados indicaram diversas relações positivas e significativas estatisticamente: a Tomada de Perspectiva se relacionou à Escala Global do perdão e às Subescalas Afetiva e Comportamental; a Sensibilidade Afetiva e o Altruísmo se relacionaram à Escala Global e à Comportamental do perdão; a Flexibilidade Interpessoal foi o único fator empático que não apresentou correlações significativas com o perdão. Com a regressão, constatou-se que: Altruísmo e Tomada de Perspectiva, combinados, ou Tomada de Perspectiva, sozinha, predisseram o Perdão Global; Sensibilidade Afetiva, Tomada de Perspectiva e Altruísmo, combinados ou individualmente, tiveram valor preditivo sobre a Subescala Comportamental do perdão; e apenas a Tomada de Perspectiva, sozinha, predisse a Subescala Afetiva do perdão. Nenhum fator do IE teve valor preditivo sobre a Subescala Cognitiva do perdão e a Flexibilidade Interpessoal não predisse qualquer dimensão do EFI. Os resultados encontrados apoiam pesquisas anteriores, confirmando a importância da empatia para a ocorrência do perdão interpessoal. Contudo, ressalta-se que a Tomada de Perspectiva se destacou como a dimensão empática mais importante, sugerindo a relevância que a capacidade de adotar o ponto de vista do outro tem para que o perdão seja alcançado. / Several studies have demonstrated the benefits of empathic skill. It is associated with psychological health and well-being, the more satisfying relationships, pro-social and moral behaviors, resilience etc., while its absence is associated with various personal and interpersonal losses. As a social skill, empathy is considered a multidimensional phenomenon with cognitive, affective and behavioral aspects. Respectively, it involves the ability to understand the point of view of another person, to genuinely be interested in ones welfare, and to express, through verbal and/or non-verbal behaviors, ones understanding and interest to the interlocutor, allowing the former to feel understood and validated in his/her experiences. This skill has been linked more recently, by several international studies, to the ability of forgiving an offender for his/her transgression. Thus, the purpose of this work was to investigate the influence of the empathic skill about the interpersonal forgiveness in a Brazilian sample. Forgiveness has also been considered a multifactorial experience, with cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects, which encompass the thoughts, emotions and behaviors in relation to an offender. To carry out this investigation, 172 participants completed the Empathy Inventory (EI), the Attitude Scale (The Enright Forgiveness Inventory - EFI) and a form about sociodemographic data. EI has four subscales: Perspective Taking, Affective Sensitivity, Interpersonal Flexibility and Altruism. EFI presents a Global Scale of forgiveness and three Subscales: Affective, Cognitive and Behavioral. Correlational and regression tests were processed to investigate the relationship between factors of EI and EFI, and the prediction of empathy on forgiveness. The results indicated several statistically significant and positive relationships: Perspective Taking was related to the Global Forgiveness Scale and to the Emotional and Behavioral Subscales; Affective Sensitivity and Altruism were related to the Global and the Behavioral Forgiveness Scales; Interpersonal Flexibility was the only empathic factor that did not show significant correlations with forgiveness. Concerning regression, it was found that: Altruism and Perspective Taking combined, or Perspective Taking alone predicted the Global Forgiveness; Affective Sensitivity, Perspective Taking and Altruism, combined or individually, have predictive value on the Behavioral Forgiveness Subscale, and only the Perspective Taking, alone, predicted the Affective Forgiveness Subscale. No EI factor was predictive on the Cognitive Subscale of interpersonal forgiveness, and Interpersonal Flexibility did not predict any dimension of EFI. The results support previous researches, confirming the importance of empathy for the occurrence of interpersonal forgiveness. However, it is noteworthy that Perspective Taking stood out as the most important empathic dimension, suggesting the relevance that the ability to adopt the point of view of another person has to achieve forgiveness

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T13:16:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 4204210 bytes, checksum: d9ae85da840c843919356fd7dc29276b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This thesis aimed to test the psychometric properties of the brazilian version of Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI) and propose, based on the estimated parameters, a reduced version of the instrument. EFI is a self-administered instrument that was developed to operationalize the theoretical model of attitudes toward forgiveness, proposed by Robert Enright and his colleagues. This model postulates the existence of six attitudinal components for forgiveness: positive affects, negative affects, positive judgments, negative judgments, positive behaviors, and negative behaviors. The EFI consists of 60 items answered on a six-point Likert-type scale (ranging from "Strongly disagree" to "Strongly agree") that seek to represent the six components of the theoretical model. The instrument also has a single-item scale called "Forgiveness item", which serves as an indicator of external validity. Data from 1,372 participants of both sexes, aged between 13 and 83 years and for the most part, students were gathered. These data were analyzed separately in two studies, both conducted by statistical packages in R: in Study 1, Confirmatory Factor Analyses were conducted with the objective of analyzing the plausibility of the theoretical model of six components. The results suggest that the proposed model shows good fit indices (CFI = .92, RMSEA = .046), especially when compared to alternative models (univariate and hexafactorial with additional second-order factors). In Study 2, item analyzes were performed by means of Item Response Theory. The results indicated that all items have good psychometric qualities, as measured by discrimination and information (precision) coefficients. It was also evaluated the adequacy of response categories. In this step were selected from among each subscale, the five items with the best parameters, reducing the total scale length in half. Results of a new CFA indicate the adequacy of the reduced compared to the original version with 60 items. Despite these results, further research is recommended to examine the properties of this reduced version in different samples used in this study. / Esta dissertação teve como objetivo principal testar as propriedades psicométricas da Escala de Atitudes para o Perdão (EFI) e propor, com base nos parâmetros estimados, uma versão reduzida do instrumento. A EFI é um instrumento autoaplicável que foi desenvolvido para operacionalizar o modelo teórico das atitudes para o perdão, proposto por Robert Enright e seus colegas. Esse modelo postula a existências de seis componentes atitudinais para o perdão: afetos positivos, afetos negativos, julgamentos positivos, julgamentos negativos, comportamentos positivos e comportamentos negativos. A EFI é composta por 60 itens, respondidos em escala Likert de seis pontos (de Discordo fortemente a Concordo fortemente ) que buscam representar os seis componentes teóricos do modelo. O instrumento conta ainda com uma escala de um único item denominado Item do perdão , que serve como indicador de validade para os demais. Foram reunidos dados de 1.372 participantes de ambos os sexos, com idades entre 13 e 83 anos e em sua maioria, universitários. Esses dados foram analisados por meio de pacotes estatísticos em R: no Estudo 1 foram realizadas Análises Fatoriais Confirmatórias com o objetivo de analisar a plausibilidade da estrutura teórica de seis componentes. Os resultados sugerem que o modelo proposto apresenta bons índices de ajuste (CFI=0,92; RMSEA=0,046), sobretudo quando comparado a modelos alternativos (unifatorial e hexafatorial com fatores de segunda ordem adicionais). No Estudo 2 foram realizadas análises de itens por meio da Teoria da Resposta ao Item. Os resultados indicaram que todos os itens apresentam boas qualidades psicométricas, aferidas pelos coeficientes de discriminação e informação (precisão). Foi avaliada, ainda, a adequação das categorias de resposta. Nesta etapa foram selecionados, dentre cada subescala, os cinco itens com os melhores parâmetros, reduzindo o comprimento total da escala à metade. Resultados de uma nova AFC apontam para a adequação da versão reduzida em comparação à versão original com 60 itens. Apesar desses resultados, pesquisas futuras são aconselhadas a fim de analisar as propriedades dessa versão reduzida em amostras diferentes da empregada nesse estudo.

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / This qualitative phenomenological study explores the experience of unforgiveness of extramarital infidelity within a Christian context. Both unforgiveness and infidelity are topics in the field of psychological research that remain relatively unexplored. Descriptions of the above-mentioned experience were sourced from three participants. In order to extrapolate the essence of their subjective experiences, semi-structured interviews comprised of openended questions were compiled. These interviews were then transcribed and analysed from an interpretive phenomenological analysis. The analysis process resulted in the emergence of themes representing the phenomenon in question. Themes found in this study included those of a difficult emotional experience, loss and grieving, the process of moving from unforgiveness towards forgiveness, and finally, personal growth and spiritual progression. The repercussions experienced by the pressure to forgive also formed an integral part of the study. This research significantly contributes to the field of research in the manner in which it is focused on the relatively unexplored topic of unforgiveness and infidelity. Attention to the topic of forgiveness has the potential to considerably influence how social scientists and psychologist view unforgiveness within psychotherapy as well as within the field of research.

Förlåtelse anses ibland som den enda lösningen för sårade eller kränkta känslor och icke-förlåtelse anses betyda att man fortsätter med grubblerier och hämndbegär. Syftet med studien var att studera förlåtelsens och icke-förlåtelsens funktioner, upplevelser och samband med empati. Trettio respondenter från Sverige, Finland och Frankrike svarade skriftligt eller muntligt på intervjufrågor om förlåtelse och eller icke-förlåtelse. Intervjuerna meningskoncentrerades och analyserades med tematisk analys och resultatet visade att både förlåtelse och icke-förlåtelse kan ha positiva men olika funktioner för individer. Situationen och vem som skulle förlåtas är avgörande faktorer för när det är förlåtelse eller icke- förlåtelse som är det optimala för t ex. självkänslan. Förlåtelse och icke-förlåtelse visade sig vara motsatser till varandra endast i två bemärkelser, när det gäller empatiska känslor och fortsatt kontakt. Studien kan komma till nytta inom arbeten där man bemöter individer som har upplevt svåra kränkningar.

Förlåtelse anses ibland som den enda lösningen för sårade eller kränkta känslor och icke-förlåtelse anses betyda att man fortsätter med grubblerier och hämndbegär. Syftet med studien var att studera förlåtelsens och icke-förlåtelsens funktioner, upplevelser och samband med empati. Trettio respondenter från Sverige, Finland och Frankrike svarade skriftligt eller muntligt på intervjufrågor om förlåtelse och eller icke-förlåtelse. Intervjuerna meningskoncentrerades och analyserades med tematisk analys och resultatet visade att både förlåtelse och icke-förlåtelse kan ha positiva men olika funktioner för individer. Situationen och vem som skulle förlåtas är avgörande faktorer för när det är förlåtelse eller icke- förlåtelse som är det optimala för t ex. självkänslan. Förlåtelse och icke-förlåtelse visade sig vara motsatser till varandra endast i två bemärkelser, när det gäller empatiska känslor och fortsatt kontakt. Studien kan komma till nytta inom arbeten där man bemöter individer som har upplevt svåra kränkningar.

Race is a source of trauma that may result in a wide range of mental and physical health consequences (Pieterse, Todd, Neville, & Carter, 2012). In Chapter 1, I conduct a systematic review of research on race-based traumatic stress. Although studies have documented the link between perceived discrimination and race-based traumatic stress, there is a need to explore factors that can amplify or buffer this relationship. Thus, in Chapter 2, I examine three theorized moderators of the relationship between racial discrimination and race-based traumatic stress: cyberracism, racial/ethnic identity, and trait forgivingness. Data was collected from a sample of 397 African American community-based participants using Mechanical Turk. Results from the study revealed that perceptions of racism were significant and positively correlated to race-based traumatic stress symptoms (r = .62, p < .01). As predicted, cyberracism strengthened this relationship. Forgivingness buffered this relationship. Against my prediction, regardless of level of racial/ethnic identity, there was a similar association between perceived racial discrimination and race-based traumatic stress. I discuss implications for future research. I also discuss practical implications for practitioners, especially regarding habits of engaging social media during periods of intensified racial conflict on social media.

In this thesis I shall outline various modernist authors' arguments that collectivities (such as ethnic groups, nations, states and cultures) and subjectivities employ sacrificial violence to establish and assert their identity where identity is inescapably (?) understood in terms of the sovereignty of the collective or the post-Oedipal autonomy of the individual. To this end, violence has been posited as a historical and conceptual inevitability and is set as the default-state of human nature and politics. In recent times, protesting voices (from post-feminist, post-colonial, post-modern and the emerging human rights discourses) have begun to rigorously contest the notion of violence as the default-state. As a result, the legitimacy of sacrifice as the primary modus to an autonomous selfhood has been radically problematised. I believe that a comprehensive understanding of the nature of this crisis of identity formation , and the possibility of transcending it, is to be found in the paradigmatic shift away from Newtonian thought toward a post-Newtonian worldview. In seeking to challenge the assumption of violence-as-default, I shall translate the comprehensive sacrificial nature of collective identity and subjectivity into a complexity-based model that allowed me to make three crucial conceptual moves toward a comprehensive understanding of post-sacrificial identities that occupy an important place in a post-Newtonian world. First, it will allow me to challenge the assumptions that supported the Hobbesian myth of autonomy/sovereignty sacrificially achieved by charting the ontological shift that compels us to understand "entities" (be it a cell, an individual or a state) not in terms of autonomy but interdependence. Secondly, it provides the conceptual tools needed to understand the systemic nature of sacrificial violence by reading subjectivity violence and collectivity violence in terms of their organic self-similarity. This will equip me to comprehensively explore a postsacrificial epistemology valid for both collective identities and subjectivity. Thirdly, I propose a model of post-sacrificial identities that are created and sustained at the edge of chaos through the dynamic interplay of order and disorder that reconciles creative and destructive forces in a generative unity. I believe that this post-Newtonian reading will clear the conceptual space needed to suggest there might yet be hope for a future that does not embrace violence as default-state.

Forgiveness is traditionally understood as a personal change of heart, in which an individual victim of a wrongdoing overcomes her resentment towards the perpetrator of that wrongdoing. Peter Strawson (1974) famously argued that resentment is a personal participant retributive reactive attitude, and the overcoming of such an attitude through forgiveness is itself a personal reactive attitude – in other words, forgiveness is an affective response to a wrongdoing by an individual victim, that is devoid of a retributive element. Because reactive attitudes are personal, it is argued that collectives – groups of individuals – cannot forgive, since collectives cannot, as collectives, hold reactive attitudes. I argue against this. I show that it is possible for collectives to hold attitudes in a way that is not reducible to individuals holding attitudes as individuals, and yet these attitudes still remain personal. Individuals exist within communities, and are interdependent on one another. Much of an individual‟s beliefs and attitudes depend on the collectives that she is a part of. I argue that an attitude is collective when it is deemed to be the appropriate attitude for members of the collective to hold. Members of the collective will take this attitude on as their own insofar as they identify themselves as members of the collective. Individuals hold the attitude, making the attitude personal, but since the individuals hold the attitude in virtue of their membership to a collective, the attitude is also collective. Given that forgiveness is itself a reactive attitude, and that collectives can hold attitudes, I argue that it is possible for a collective to forgive. Members of a collective will come to forgive when forgiveness is held up as the appropriate attitude for them, and once enough members have taken on the attitude of forgiveness as their own attitude, a collective can be said to have forgiven.

This psychobiography is focused on the life of Glenda Watson-Kahlenberg, whose life history epitomises the redemptive theme of triumph over tragedy. A phenomenological approach to the study allowed the researcher to observe the participant‟s lived experience through the theoretical lens of Frankl‟s conceptualization of a meaningful and full existence. A holistic perspective of factors contributing to redemption was accommodated by the Biopsychosocial-spiritual Model. The aim of this longitudinal revelatory study was to illuminate the process of redemption in a life, which leads to restoration and wholeness. This study breaks with traditional psychobiography – in that a life in progress has been selected; and personality development is not the key focus. This psychobiographical undertaking was anchored in qualitative research in the form of a single case study. Four types of triangulation were utilized, namely: data, investigators, theory and methodological triangulation. In addition, Alexander‟s identifiers of saliency, Miles and Huberman‟s data-management guidelines, Schultz‟s prototypical scenes, and Guba‟s criteria for trustworthiness, guided the methodology to ensure reliable data extraction and interpretation. The present researcher was in search of a deeper understanding of the enabling factors facilitating a restorative process in a life that was challenged by setbacks. Given the increasing pressures facing individuals in this modern era, the redemptive theme holds particular relevance, and was graphically demonstrated in the life of the participant who experienced trauma, widowhood, divorce, single parenthood, and a spate of medical and psychological setbacks. The findings suggest that the mental health clinician‟s utilisation of Frankl‟s conceptualisation of meaning in the most challenging circumstances, proffers itself as an all-purpose life-tool which enables individuals to overcome their challenges. The study demonstrated that gaining meaning in life is inextricably tied to an implicit legacy-oriented worldview. Of significance, is the role of forgiveness which emerged as the central redemptive catalyst. In this study, the resolution of past hurts through forgiveness, and the search for meaning, merge, forming an arterial theme in the life story of the participant. The dual impact of these factors not only reversed contaminated life-scripts, it also birthed a new calling in life which set the participant on a generative life course. The findings related to a redemptive life not only confirms existing theory, but also adds perspectives not previously considered. In addition, the findings related to the role of forgiveness has positive implications for the individual‟s physical and psychological wellbeing. Greater intentionality on the part of therapists to thread forgiveness into their practice, remains invitational in the light of the eugraphic impact demonstrated in this study.

Tidigare forskning definierar begreppet förlåtelse som en process där kognitiva, emotionella, beteendemässiga och motivationsrelaterade förändringar görs gentemot den som felat. Syftet med studien var att undersöka individers upplevelser av att förlåta och förlåtas. Detta för att kunna kartlägga de gemensamma dragen i förlåtelsefenomenet. Deltagarna var 12 respondenter, varav hälften identifierade sig som kvinnor och hälften som män. Åldrarna sträckte sig från 18 till 82 år och individerna härstammade från Bosnien, Finland, Kanada, Kenya, Irak, Iran, Portugal, Sverige och Tyskland. De semistrukturerade intervjuerna varade genomsnittligen i 51 minuter, vilka sedan meningskoncentrerades för vidare analys. Resultatet visade att förlåtelse stammar ur en inre eller yttre (1) konflikt där den utsatta varit med om (2) negativa upplevelser, vilka hanteras med ett (3) tankeskifte som leder vidare till en (4) konfliktupplösning. Förhoppningar finns om att studien kan verka upplysande och öka förståelsen för individers sätt att möta konflikter med förlåtelse.