The role of spiritual intelligence and dispositional forgiveness in predicting episodic forgiveness

ABSTRACT

Relationships between spirituality and forgiveness have been of considerable interest to researchers. However, results of their studies remain ambiguous. In the present study, we explored associations between spiritual intelligence and forgiveness both as a state and as a trait. Respondents (605) aged 18–79 completed the Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory, the Heartland Forgiveness Scale, and the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory. The results revealed that all aspects of spiritual intelligence showed positive correlations with most dimensions of trait forgiveness, whereas some showed a negative association with revenge and positive correlation with benevolence motivation. Moreover, different aspects of dispositional forgiveness mediated the link between two spiritual intelligence dimensions (personal meaning production and transcendental awareness) and episodic forgiveness.

KEYWORDS:

• Spiritual intelligence
• dispositional forgiveness
• episodic forgiveness

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Justyna Mróz

Justyna Mróz, PhD, is a Doctor in the Department of Psychology at The Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Poland. She has published numerous articles and chapters in the areas of forgiveness. She has 15 years of experience in psychotherapy and psychological help for people with trauma.

Kinga Kaleta

Kinga Kaleta, PhD, is a Doctor in the Department of Psychology at The Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Poland. She is an author of a number of articles, her areas of writing and research interest include forgiveness, particularly in family and marriage. She also works as a psychotherapist and a couple counselor.

Katarzyna Skrzypińska

Katarzyna Skrzypińska, is a Professor at the University of Gdańsk at the Institute of Psychology; author of the model of the Triple Nature of Spirituality (TNS, 2014) illustrating the genesis, structure and mechanisms of the functioning of the human spiritual sphere. Member of a board of International Association for the Psychology of Religion (IAPR) and Polish Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (Pol. PTPRiD), of which she is the initiator and founder (2012).