Understanding the process of interpersonal forgiveness among married individuals in ongoing relationship with experience of relationship transgressions in state of Tamil Nadu, India: An explorative study

In recent times, increased attention has been given to the topic of forgiveness in psychological literature, and still, the definition and operational clarity need exploration. The present study explored and attempted to understand the process of interpersonal forgiveness from the lived life experience of married individuals in an ongoing relationship with experience of relationship transgressions. The study\u27s primary purpose was to explore interpersonal forgiveness from a married individual’s description and understand the process of interpersonal forgiveness; for exploration, qualitative multiple-case study research was carried out. From twenty married individuals, data was collected, 33 to 56 years of age and 4 to 33 years of married life in Tamil Nadu, India. The interview data were subjected to reflexive thematic analysis. And to increase credibility, reliability, and validity: member checking, peer debriefing, and auditing were conducted. The results exposed (a) the situations of relationship transgression experiences; (b) the initial reaction and responses to transgression experiences; (c) the contributions gained for transformation by understanding the reaction and response of the transgressor; (d) the manner of engaging and adapting in forgiveness; (e) the reasons for adapting and engaging to forgiveness; (f) the relevant and related outcomes of forgiveness. The findings from married individuals in an ongoing relationship gave an understanding and a conceptual model of interpersonal forgiveness. Overall, this study contributes to the forgiveness research from married individuals in an ongoing relationship. The contributions and limitations of the study, implications, and recommendations are discussed. Keywords: Situations of relationship transgression, the process of forgiveness in an ongoing relationship, reasons for forgiveness, results of forgiveness, understanding of interpersonal forgiveness