Forgiveness and Aggression Among College Students

Violence is a serious health concern on and around college campuses in the United States. While spirituality is associated with health-related issues, little is known regarding its association with aggression among college students. Cross-sectional associations between forgiveness and aggression were examined among college students in Southern Appalachia (n = 494; ♀ = 74%; M age = 22). Using multiple regression analyses and independent of demographic variables and religiousness, forgiveness of self and forgiveness of others but not feeling forgiven by God, were associated with lower levels of a variety of forms of aggression, with mostly medium effect sizes