Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Everett L. Worthington, Jr., Ph.D., is Professor of the Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Worthington was founding editor of Marriage and Family: A Christian Journal, and serves on other editorial boards of professional journals. He was founding Executive Director and Treasurer of A Campaign for Forgiveness Research, a not-for-profit organization devoted to supporting research into forgiveness (www.forgiving.org), which led to being editor of Handbook of Forgiveness (Brunner-Routledge, 2005). He is a leader in the field of forgiveness research, teaching, publishing, and dissemination.

• Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction. Part I: A Stress-and-Coping Theory of Forgiveness and Relevant Evidence. Models of Forgiveness. A Biopsychosocial Stress-and-Coping Theory of Forgiveness. Evidence That Unforgiveness is a Stress Reaction. Emotion in the Stress-and-Coping Theory of Forgiveness. Evidence Supporting the Emotional Replacement Hypothesis. Part II: Personality Traits of Forgivers and Nonforgivers. Forgiveness and the Big Five Personality Traits. Dispositions Related to Unforgiveness and Forgiveness. Personality can be Changed. Part III: Clinical Applications to Promote Forgiveness and Reconciliation. A General Approach to Psychotherapy. Intervening Specifically to Promote Forgiveness. Intervening to Promote Forgiveness of Self. Intervening to Promote Reconciliation. Research Support for Helping People REACH Forgiveness. Promoting Forgiveness and Reconciliation Within Society. Conclusion: Forgiveness is not a Panacea. Appendix: What is Forgiveness? References. Index.