This thesis explores the theme of interpersonal forgiveness in the Gospel of Matthew and argues that the idea of interpersonal forgiveness is quite central to this Gospel. Its main foci are on demonstrating the centrality of this theme in the Gospel and understanding the nature of interpersonal forgiveness in it. It proposes five sets of evidence in support of this claim. First is the concept of reciprocity and the link between mercy and forgiveness, together with the link between reluctance in the praxis of them and judgement. Second is the emphasis on the offended person's responsibility in forgiving and the connection of this with the concept of spiritually mature and immature Christians. Third is a reinforcement of the forgiveness concept by the use of related concepts. Fourth is the strategic rhetorical positioning of interpersonal forgiveness texts and related passages within the Matthean text. Fifth is the proportion these texts occupy in the Sermon on the Mount and the Community Discourse. In an attempt to demonstrate the prominence of the theme in the first Gospel, all Matthean forgiveness and forgiveness-related texts are surveyed. Then two key texts, in which the idea of interpersonal forgiveness is stated directly, are singled out for a thorough examination. The method of interpretation used in this thesis is discourse analysis. Discourse analysis, as with many models used in NT exegesis, is not without its potential limitations. It is employed in this thesis because it offers valuable insight into Matthew's point of view of the subject under scrutiny. To serve as the background to the present study, the rhetoric of interpersonal forgiveness in Graeco-Roman literature and in Jewish literature in Greek is considered. The analysis of these data will assist in the description of the dynamics of human forgiveness. The forgiveness pattern that emerges from them differs remarkably from its pattern found in Matthew where granting forgiveness appears not only as a reasonable act, but reluctance or failure to grant it does make the unforgiving person accountable to God - a note sounded nowhere else (except Sir 28:1-4 and Dionysius, Ant. Rom. 8.50.1-4) in the literature surveyed in this work.

Forgiveness is a construct that has captured the interest of researchers and practitioners across various fields, from philosophy to biology; however, defining and measuring forgiveness has been a challenge because of its complex nature. By drawing on relationships discovered in past studies, reviewing definitions across disciplines, and noting weaknesses in current forgiveness measures, the task of developing a broadly applicable forgiveness measure with strong theoretical and psychometric roots resulted in the creation of the General Measure of Forgiveness (GMF). The GMF is a brief, Likert response questionnaire that is appropriate for both relationship and non-relationship transgressions; heretofore, there has not been an established measure for non-relationship trangressions. This study was an initial investigation into the psychometric properties of the GMF. In an online design, college participants (n=343) were administered the GMF along with an established interpersonal measure of forgiveness, the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI: Enright & Rique, 2004), and other measures of theoretically related and unrelated constructs. For the forgiveness measures, participants completed the GMF and EFI (order counterbalanced) in response to the same self-generated relationship transgression, then completed the GMF in response to a self-generated non-relationship transgression. Results supported the internal consistency of the GMF (Cronbach's alphas of .93 for both relationship and non-relationship forgiveness) and an exploratory factor analysis identified a primary factor accounting for about 30% of the total item variance. Convergent and discriminant validity analyses resulted in largely predicted relationships (e.g., r = .81 for GMFrelationship and EFI; r = .78 for GMFnon-relationship and a single-item assessment of forgiveness; r = -.26 for GMFrelationship and anger and aggression). These results are encouraging as use of the GMF could open new areas of research in non-relationship forgiveness and enhance research and application of relationship forgiveness. Specifically, the GMF holds promise for improving research by providing a brief, non-proprietary, and broadly applicable measure of forgiveness. Broadly, the study suggests that a general measure of forgiveness is feasible. / Master of Science

This research was designed to examine the relationship between the willingness to forgive in specific situations and intensity of Early Maladaptive Schemas in a nonclinical sample of adults. Forty-one people participated in the survey, with an average age of 27.8 years. Were used three instruments: the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI), the Crowne-Marlowe Social Desirability Scale and the Young Schema Questionnaire (short version). After application of the measures, statistical procedures were applied. In terms of results related to EFI, the same way in other studies that used this scale, were found positive correlations of the subscales of behavior, cognition and affection among themselves and with the total score of EFI, as well as with the 1-Item Forgiveness Scale an independent measure to evaluate how much the individual has forgiven the offender, in a complete mode. The results also showed that the EFI total score and the 1-Item Forgiveness Scale correlated positively, while the social desirability scale didn t show significant correlations with any of the two measures. Concerning the intensity of the offense, there was a negative correlation of this variable with measures of forgiveness, indicating that the degree of forgiveness was less the greater the perceived intensity of injury. With respect to the intensity of forgiveness, the average degree of forgiveness of the participants was 266 points a score that ranges from 60 (low degree of forgiveness) to 360 (high degree of forgiveness) and over half of the sample (61%, n = 25) reported levels of forgiveness higher than average. In terms of degrees of forgiveness measured by subscales of the EFI, the results showed that sample expressed more intensely the cognitive forgiveness (M = 96.8). The degree of affective forgiveness (M = 81.3) remained significantly lower than the degree of behavioral forgiveness (M = 88.2) and cognitive forgiveness, indicating that it was harder to participants offer the emotional forgiveness. Finally, considering the main objective of this research, the results showed negative correlations between the measure of forgiveness used as a criterion variable (1-Item Forgiveness Scale) and four of the five domains of schemes proposed by Young, to wit: disconnection and rejection (&#961; = -0.534, p <0.05), impaired autonomy and performance (&#961; = -0.440, p < 0.05), other-directedness (&#961; = -0.371, p < 0.05) and finally, the impaired limits domain (&#961; = -0.472, p < 0.01). Thus, the probability of the participants forgive their offenders has decreased as a function of the magnitude of the participant's domains and their schemes. The results observed in this study expands the current knowledge about the process of forgiveness, as well as about its interface with the cognitive structures called schemas, which have an important role in the organization of the personality, from the therapeutic point of view in cognitive approaches. / Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo principal analisar a relação entre a disposição para perdoar em situações específicas e a intensidade dos Esquemas Iniciais Desadaptativos (EIDs) em uma amostra não clínica de indivíduos adultos. Participaram da pesquisa 41 pessoas, com idade média de 27,8 anos. Foram utilizados três instrumentos de avaliação: a Escala de Atitudes para o Perdão (EFI), a Escala de Desejabilidade Social de Crowne-Marlowe e o Questionário de Esquemas Young (versão breve). Após a coleta, os dados foram submetidos a procedimentos estatísticos descritivos e correlacionais. Em se tratando dos resultados referentes à EFI, assim como em outros estudos que utilizaram a mesma escala, foram verificadas correlações positivas das subescalas de comportamento, julgamento e afeto, entre si, e com o escore total da EFI, assim como com a escala independente Item do Perdão uma escala independente que mede o quanto o indivíduo perdoou o ofensor de forma completa. Os resultados mostraram também que o escore total da EFI e do Item do Perdão correlacionaram-se positivamente, enquanto que a escala de desejabilidade social não apresentou correlações significantes com nenhuma das duas medidas. Com relação à medida de intensidade da ofensa, observou-se uma correlação negativa desta variável com as medidas de perdão, indicando que o grau de perdão foi tanto menor quanto maior a intensidade percebida da mágoa. Com respeito à intensidade do perdão, o grau médio do perdão dos participantes foi de 266 pontos num escore que varia de 60 (baixo grau de perdão) a 360 (alto grau de perdão) sendo que mais da metade da amostra (61%, n = 25) reportou graus de perdão superiores à média. Em se tratando dos graus de perdão medidos pelas subescalas da EFI, os resultados mostraram que a amostra expressou o perdão mais intensamente pela via cognitiva. O grau de perdão afetivo (M = 81,3) permaneceu significativamente menor que o grau de perdão comportamental (M = 88,2) e cognitivo (M = 96,8), indicando que foi mais difícil para os participantes perdoar afetivamente. Finalmente, considerando o objetivo principal desta pesquisa, os resultados mostraram correlações negativas entre a medida de perdão utilizada como variável critério (Item do Perdão) e quatro dos cinco domínios de esquemas propostos por Young, a saber: desconexão e rejeição (&#961; = -0,534; p < 0,05), autonomia e desempenho prejudicados (&#961; = -0,440; p < 0,05), orientação para o outro (&#961; = -0,371; p < 0,05) e por fim, o domínio de limites prejudicados (&#961; = -0,472; p < 0,01). Assim, a probabilidade de que os participantes perdoassem de forma completa seus ofensores foi menor à medida que apresentassem maior intensidade nestes domínios e seus esquemas. Os resultados verificados nesta pesquisa ampliam o conhecimento atual que se tem em relação ao processo de perdão em si, bem como a respeito de sua interface com as estruturas cognitivas denominadas esquemas, que têm um importante papel na organização da personalidade, do ponto de vista terapêutico nas abordagens cognitivas. / Mestre em Psicologia Aplicada