Date of Award
2007
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Program
Psychology
Supervisor
Dr. Jim Olson
Abstract
The present research examined whether there is a relation between forgiveness and the psychological passage of time. It was predicted that transgressions perceived as distant in time would be associated with more forgiveness and weaker negative motivations towards the transgressor. In Study 1, participants were led to feel distant from or close to an interpersonal transgression against them. Although the manipulation was ineffective, correlational analyses showed that the further away the transgression was perceived to be, the more participants reported having forgiven their perpetrator. In Study 2, participants were led to feel distant from or close to a transgression committed either against themselves or against a close other. Results showed that participants reported more forgiveness and weaker negative motivations towards the transgressor in the subjectively distant condition compared to the recent condition, but only for transgressions committed against themselves. Findings suggest that psychological time can facilitate forgiveness for personal harms.
Recommended Citation
Cheung, Irene, "FORGIVING OTHERS: INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF SUBJECTIVE TEMPORAL DISTANCE" (2007). Digitized Theses. 5143.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/5143