Abstract
Roman Catholic couples (130 couples, ages 24–84), at three churches in a suburban town in the southern U.S., completed a section of the Family Forgiveness Scale and the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire. The factor structure and loadings of forgiveness items differed from those previously reported. Levels of faith and forgiveness were similar between husbands and wives. Faith was correlated with most forgiveness dimensions, and faith and some aspects of forgiveness were related to duration of marriage.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the parishioners and pastors of the Holy Ghost (Hammond, LA), Our Lady of Pompeii (Tickfaw, LA), and St. Joseph (Ponchatoula, LA) Catholic Churches for their participation. This study was conducted as a requirement for an Honors in the Discipline thesis at the Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) Department of Psychology. The first author received thesis support from the SLU Psychology Department, the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Office of Student Creative Activities and Research, and from the Ronald E. McNair Research Scholars program. The contributions, faith, and encouragement of Alvin G. Burstein, Loren D. Marks, Jim Walter, Lahna Roche, and Angela Dunnington are also acknowledged with gratitude.
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Batson, M.D., Shwalb, D.W. Forgiveness and Religious Faith in Roman Catholic Married Couples. Pastoral Psychol 55, 119–129 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-006-0046-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-006-0046-x