Negative internal causal attributions of a specific offense and forgiveness

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1-2015

Publication Source

Personal Relationships

Volume Number

22

Issue Number

3

First Page

449

Last Page

459

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

ISSN

1350-4126

Abstract

Causal attributions are important social-cognitive predictors of forgiveness. This article presents the Transgression Attribution Questionnaire (TAQ), a measure of one's negative internal causal attributions of a specific offense. In 4 studies, scores on the TAQ showed initial evidence of estimated internal consistency, temporal stability, and construct validity. Negative internal attributions for the cause of a transgression predicted lower levels of empathy and forgiveness. Furthermore, scores on the TAQ predicted forgiveness over and above the hurtfulness of the offense, relationship commitment, and a general measure of internal causal attributions in relationships. The current research bridges research on internal causal attributions and forgiveness. Implications for the social-cognitive study of forgiveness and the measurement of causal attributions are discussed.

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