ABSTRACT
This quantitative research investigated the determinants of forgiveness of a family transgressor by the offended. Data from 377 college students were analyzed to investigate the nature and frequency of the offenses, specific relationship of the offended with the transgressor, and the role of family relationship variables, positive dispositional tendencies, and hurt intensity in the forgiveness of the family member. The analyses indicated that some of the most occurring offenses were being ignored, not fulfilling promises, and being compared with others. Participants indicated being compared with others as the most serious offense, followed by contempt, and being ignored. Due to these offenses, about 50% of the participants experienced moderate to above the average intensity of hurt. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses suggested that the positive dispositional tendencies of optimism alone explained 16% of incremental variance in forgiveness after controlling for gender. Resilience was not significant. In the third step of the regression, family relationship variables of trust, communication, and alienation together explained an additional 37% of the variance, above and beyond gender and dispositional tendencies. In the final step, hurt intensity was a significant predictor, explaining an additional 5% of variance in forgiveness. These significant results suggest that after controlling for both demographic variables and dispositional traits, the family relationship variables along with the subjective hurt intensity in the context of a family play a significant role in the forgiveness of the family offender.