Krause Neal, Ellison Christopher G
Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029.
J Sci Study Relig. 2003 Mar 1;42(1):77-94. doi: 10.1111/1468-5906.00162.
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among forgiveness by God, forgiveness of others, and psychological well-being with data provided by a nationwide survey of older adults. Three main findings emerge from the analyses. First, the data suggest that forgiving others tends to enhance psychological well-being, and these salubrious effects are greater than those associated with forgiveness by God. Second, the findings indicate that how older people go about forgiving others is important: older adults who require transgressors to perform acts of contrition experience more psychological distress than those who forgive unconditionally. Third, the results reveal that forgiveness by God may be involved in this process because older people who feel they are forgiven by God are less likely to expect transgressors to perform acts of contrition.
本研究的目的是利用一项针对老年人的全国性调查所提供的数据，考察上帝的宽恕、对他人的宽恕与心理健康之间的关系。分析得出了三个主要发现。第一，数据表明，宽恕他人往往会增强心理健康，而且这些有益影响比与上帝的宽恕相关的影响更大。第二，研究结果表明，老年人宽恕他人的方式很重要：要求犯错者进行悔悟行为的老年人比无条件宽恕的老年人经历更多的心理困扰。第三，结果显示，上帝的宽恕可能参与了这一过程，因为觉得自己被上帝宽恕的老年人不太可能期望犯错者进行悔悟行为。
