title: Measuring offence-specific forgiveness in marriage: the Marital Offence-Specific Forgiveness Scale (MOFS).
abstract: Three studies involving 328 married couples were conducted to validate the Marital Offence-Specific Forgiveness Scale, a new measure assessing offence-specific forgiveness for marital transgressions. The studies examined the dimensionality; internal consistency; and discriminant, concurrent, and predictive validity of the new measure. The final scale comprised 2 distinct correlated dimensions, 1 positive (Benevolence) and 1 negative (Resentment-Avoidance), both of which had adequate internal consistency. The 2 dimensions discriminated marital forgiveness from affective empathy, rumination, attributions, and marital quality. Convergent validity of the new scale was indicated by significant relationships between its underlying dimensions and a host of predicted sociocognitive, relationship, trait, and well-being correlates of forgiveness. Providing evidence for predictive validity, forgiveness dimensions accounted for variability in relationship variables over a 6-month period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Language, Communication and Cultural STudies, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy. francesca-giorgia.paleari@unibg.it
authors.forename: F Giorgia
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Paleari
authors.forename: Camillo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Regalia
authors.forename: Frank D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Fincham
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000533:Altruism; D026686:Beneficence; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires