Designing and Investigating the Efficacy of a Forgiveness...
Designing and Investigating the Efficacy of a Forgiveness Training Program on Enhancing Marital Satisfaction
Objective: Marital dissatisfaction, at both individual and social levels, is a significant problem. According to Ellis’s rational-emotive theory in couple therapy, couples' irrational beliefs about their marital relationship, cause various problems in their interactions, leading to disappointment and eventually to marital dissatisfaction. To prevent such disappointment, based on Positive Psychology perspective, learning forgiveness is highly recommended. Thus, in this research, a training program on forgiveness was designed, based on Enright’s theory of forgiveness, with the aim of helping those who lack forgiveness skills.
Design and method: Evaluating this program, initially marital satisfactions of 60 volunteer women were assessed using Enrich Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire. Then, the participants were divided into two groups of experimental and control, each containing 30 subjects. The experimental group participated in eight two-hours learning sessions. In addition, the forgiveness skills of both groups were assessed three times (pre, post, and follow up), using an instrument exclusively designed for this project.
Result: Findings based on Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) indicated that the training program helped with the improvement of forgiveness skills and marital satisfaction that lasted beyond the implementation of the program.