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Forgiveness is an important tenet within the Christian faith; however, it is not known whether one's religious orientation influences one's decision to forgive an actual (versus hypothesized) betrayal. The purpose of this study was to examine this process within a Christian adult sample. The results of this study suggest that individuals whose religious beliefs are more intrinsically oriented report themselves as more forgiving of an actual interpersonal betrayal, whereas high extrinsic religiosity was predictive of higher scores on a vengefulness measure. Furthermore, results indicated that those individuals who are extrinsically oriented are more likely to be swayed by social pressures to forgive. Taken together, these findings suggest that one's religious orientation may be an influential factor in how and why we choose to forgive others.
Although research indicates that religious individuals are more likely to value forgiveness than those who are not religious (e.g., Enright, Santos, & Al-Mabuk, 1989; Gorsuch & Hao, 1993; Paloma & Gallup, 1991; Rye et al., 2000), it is still unclear whether this valuing of forgiveness translates into actually being more forgiving in response to interpersonal betrayals. In fact, in a review of the literature on the link between forgiveness and religion, McCullough and Worthington (1999) demonstrated that research often indicates a disconnect between religious individuals' positive attitudes toward forgiveness in the abstract and their actual behaviors when faced with real situations requiring forgiveness. Furthermore, it is not known whether one's type of religiosity influences one's decision to forgive an actual (not hypothesized) betrayal or their motivations for forgiveness. Exploring religiosity in a more nuanced fashion may improve our understanding of how religious attitudes and forgiveness are linked.
Approaches to religion are not monolithic; individuals can vary greatly in how they view the role and purpose of religion in their daily lives. In an attempt to capture some of this variability, Allport and Ross (1967) made the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity or religious orientation. Individuals who are high on intrinsic religiosity view religion as a central guiding principle for their lives, and thus their religious beliefs direct and center their lives on a daily basis. Individuals who are more extrinsically oriented primarily view religion from an instrumental perspective, regarding religion as a means of comfort, providing a sense...