A Pilot Study for the Effectiveness of a Forgiveness Discussion Program Among College-Age Couples

A forgiveness discussion guide- a self-guided intervention for affective, behavioral, and cognitive forgiveness- is a tool with preliminary evidence showing its robust effects on prosocial orientation. Here, using an 8-week forgiveness discussion intervention for college-age couples at a Christian university, this study demonstrates statistically insignificant yet meaningful attenuations in levels of forgiveness and compassionate love. Eight heterosexual couples from the Liberty University undergraduate population consented to be randomly placed in a no-contact control group or experimental group. Before random assignment, the couples completed a pretest measurement consisting of demographic questions, The Enright Forgiveness Inventory, Compassionate Love for Humanity Scale, The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, PROMIS Depression, PROMIS Anxiety, PROMIS Anger, PROMIS Anxiety, PROMIS Fatigue, and PROMIS Sleep. The participants were then randomly assigned to the control group, who waited without contact for 8-weeks, and the experimental group, who completed the guide each week for eight weeks. At the end of eight weeks, the same measures were administered, and data were analyzed. There were no statistically significant mean differences between the guide and control groups. However, there were mean increases in forgiveness and compassionate love concurrent with the research hypothesis. The means did not increase or decrease significantly in the predicted direction for self-esteem, depression, anxiety, anger, fatigue, and sleep quality