Relations of Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Psychological (Mal)Adjustment with Forgiveness and Vengeance among Bangladeshi Young Adults

Abstract

The study investigated whether adults’ memories of parental acceptance-rejection in childhood predict their current levels of forgiveness and vengeance as mediated by psychological (mal)adjustment. The data were collected from 252 young adults (Women = 137, Men = 115, Age range = 18 – 22 years; Mage = 19.42; SD = 0.99). Measures used were the Adult Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ) short form for fathers and mothers, the Adult Personality Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ) short form for adults, the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS), the Vengeance Scale (VS-10), and the Personal Information Form. Mediation analysis indicated that memories of maternal and paternal rejection predicted vengeance as mediated by psychological maladjustment among both men and women. Further, women’s and men’s memories of parental (both maternal and paternal) acceptance predicted forgiveness as mediated by psychological adjustment.

Keywords:

• parental acceptance-rejection
• forgiveness
• vengeance
• psychological
• (mal)adjustment

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Tasnuva T. Mullick

Tasnuva Tazrin Mullick graduated in School Psychology and Clinical Psychology from the University of Dhaka. She is currently working as the Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support Service (MHPSS) specialist and a counselor. She has been awarded with a National Science and Technology (NST) 2018–19 fellowship and Information & Communication Technology Department Innovation Fund 2020–21. Her areas of research are in education systems, parenting, and use of technology in mental health services.

Muhammad K. Uddin

Muhammad Kamal Uddin Professor and Chair in Psychology, University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Kamal has 85 research articles including a book chapter. He is the General Secretary of the Bangladesh Foundation for Human Resource Development. Kamal is the Vice President of the Asia Pacific School Psychology Association (APSPA), and the Founding President of the Bangladesh Psychometric Society (BPS), and the Bangladesh School Psychology Society (BSPS).