Development of the Forgiveness of Others Scale

In the present article, "forgiveness" is defined as an intrapersonal process of change in one's negative emotion, cognition, motivation, or behavior toward a perceived transgressor, from negative into neutral or positive. The Forgiveness of Others Scale (FOS) was developed in order to be able to assess individuals' forgiveness in a variety of relationships across multiple interpersonal offenses. In Study 1, factor analysis of data from 691 undergraduates identified forgiveness and "unforgiveness" components of the Forgiveness of Others Scale. When the test was completed by 192 undergraduates, the test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from .76 to .82, confirming the test's reliability. In Study 2, concurrent validity of the Forgiveness of Others Scale was assessed with data from 331 respondents, comparing it to measures of aggression, trait anger, empathy, and Big Five. The results suggested that the Forgiveness of Others Scale had high validity. Study 3, which examined the relationship between the Forgiveness of Others Scale and a single-item measure of forgiveness, provided evidence for the validity of the Forgiveness of Others Scale.