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Forgiveness and vengeance: The mediating role of

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Article  in  Psychological Reports · February 2014

DOI: 10.2466/07.09.PR0.114k11w9 · Source: PubMed

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 Psychological Reports: Mental & Physical Health
2014, 114, 1, 1-12. © Psychological Reports 2014

FORGIVENESS AND VENGEANCE: THE MEDIATING

ROLE OF GRATITUDE1

SEYDI AHMET SATICI

Psychological Counseling Department

Anadolu University

RECEP UYSAL AHMET AKIN

Psychological Counseling Department Psychological Counseling Department

Sakarya University Sakarya University

Summary.—This study examined the mediating role of gratitude on the rela-

tionship between forgiveness and vengeance. Participants were 331 university stu-
dents (185 women, 146 men; ages 17 to 24 years), who completed a questionnaire
package that includes the Vengeance Scale, the Trait Forgiveness Scale, and the
Gratitude Questionnaire–Six Item Form. Hierarchical regression analyses showed
that gratitude partially mediated the relationship between forgiveness and ven-
geance. The significance and limitations of the results were discussed.

Humans cannot survive alone (Adler & Towne, 1996; Akbas, 2005), so
they establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. Lack of social re-
lationships can jeopardize physical, psychological, and social well-being.
Lazarus and Lazarus (1994) argued that gratitude is rooted in the capacity
to empathize with others. Positive emotions toward others, such as love
and gratitude, promote interpersonal relationships. Gratitude has been
treated as both a normal and a normative aspect of personality and social
life (McCullough, Kilpatrick, Emmons, & Larson, 2001). As “one of the
most neglected emotions and most underestimated of the virtues” (Solo-
mon, 2004, p. v), gratitude can be described as the positive emotion one
feels when another person has willingly given, or intends to give, some-
thing needed or valued (McCullough, Kilpatrick, et al., 2001; McCullough,
Tsang, 2004). Grateful feelings strengthen social relationships and help
people cope with stressful situations (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade,
2005), as well as bolstering self-acceptance (Wood, Joseph, & Maltby, 2008;
Wood, Maltby, Gillett, Linley, & Joseph, 2008). Study of gratitude may pro-
vide new insight on well-being and interpersonal relationships.
Another positive emotion toward others, forgiveness, can be described
as a pro-social motivational change toward someone who offends (Mc-
Cullough, Pargament, & Thoresen, 2000), which reduces motivation to

1
Address correspondence to Seydi Ahmet Satici, Graduate School of Education Science,
Anadolu University, Yunusemre Campus, 26470, Eskişehir, Turkey or e-mail (sasatici@anadolu.
edu.tr).

DOI 10.2466/07.09.PR0.114k11w9 ISSN 0033-2941

2 S. A. SATICI, ET AL.

seek revenge or to avoid the transgressor, and increases compassion or

sympathy (McCullough, Rachal, Sandage, Worthington, Brown, & Hight,
1998). Forgiveness is vital for maintenance of close relationships, and is
viewed as necessary for satisfying and lasting relationships (Lambert, Fin-
cham, Stillman, Graham, & Beach, 2009; Karremans & Van Lange, 2010).
It is associated with well-being and persistence. Forgiveness is seen as a
moral virtue and it is an emotional “replacement” (Worthington, 2003)
of negative feelings of revenge with feelings of goodwill toward the per-
son who has treated one badly (Wade, Bailey, & Shaffer, 2005). Research-
ers agree that forgiveness should be differentiated from pardoning, con-
doning, excusing, forgetting, and denying, and that forgiveness is distinct
from reconciliation (McCullough, et al., 2000; Wade, Johnson, & Meyer,
2008). Forgiveness is positively related to life satisfaction (Worthington,
Berry, & Parrott, 2001; Thompson, Snyder, Hoffman, Michael, Rasmussen,
Billings, et al., 2005), empathy, and general religiousness (Tsang & Stan-
ford, 2006), gratitude (McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002), and posi-
tive affect (Maltby, Day, & Barber, 2004). It also has been shown to have
negative relationships with depression, anxiety (Maltby, Macaskill, & Day,
2001; Karremans, Van Lange, Ouwerkerk, & Kluwer, 2003), anger rumina-
tion, thoughts of revenge (Barber, Maltby, & Macaskill, 2005), and neuroti-
cism (Maltby, et al., 2001; Walker & Gorsuch, 2002).
An alternative to forgiveness is vengefulness. When people are hurt
or irritated by others, they may seek opportunity to take revenge (Brown,
2003; Stillwell, Baumeister, & Del Priore, 2008). Vengeance means inflicting
punishment or obtaining satisfaction for an injury, hurt, or wrong (Cayne,
1993), and is one personal response to unjust treatment (Stuckless & Goran-
son, 1992). Vengeful people are high in negative affectivity and are easily
angered and offended by others (Berkowitz, 1993). Vengeance plays a criti-
cal role in aggression and desire. Vengeance is frequently cited as a trigger
for destructive and aggressive interpersonal behaviors such as homicide,
rape, arson, shoplifting, and sexual infidelity (Scully & Marolla, 1985; Turn-
er & Cashdan, 1988; Stuckless & Goranson, 1992). People may seek ven-
geance for a wide variety of reasons, such as righting perceived injustice,
restoring self-worth, and deterring future injustice (Cota-McKinley, Woody,
& Bell, 2001). Vengefulness is positively related with poor psychological
well-being (McCullough, Kilpatrick, et al., 2001; Cardozo, Kaiser, Gotway,
& Agani, 2003), negative affect, low life satisfaction (McCullough, Kilpat-
rick, et al., 2001), and neuroticism (McCullough, Bellah, Kilpatrick, & John-
son, 2001) and is associated negatively with psychological health (Ysseldyk,
Matheson, & Anisman, 2007) and agreeableness (McCullough, et al., 2001).
Considering the studies demonstrating the relationships of gratitude,
forgiveness, and vengeance, it seems possible that gratitude may enhance
 FORGIVENESS, GRATITUDE, AND VENGEANCE 3

a tendency for forgiveness, and thereby help to reduce feelings of ven-

geance (Solomon, 2004; Szczesniak & Soares, 2011). Previous studies have
demonstrated that people experience gratitude as thankfulness for the
good things that happen in their lives (McCullough, et al., 2002), often af-
ter receiving help perceived as valuable and altruistic (Wood, et al., 2008).
Because of its prosocial nature, gratitude is positively related to forgive-
ness (McCullough, et al., 2002), and “gratitude and forgiveness are con-
ceptually connected as pro-social, empathy-based character strengths and
are associated with psychological and physical health” (Breen, Kashdan,
Lenser, & Fincham, 2010, p. 932); both are connected to well-being, pos-
itive affect, and life satisfaction (Worthington, et al., 2001; McCullough,
et al., 2002; McCullough & Hoyt, 2002; McCullough, Tsang, & Emmons,
2004; Toussaint & Friedman, 2009). The main purpose of this study was to
examine whether gratitude might play a mediating role between forgive-
ness and vengeance.
Hypothesis 1. Gratitude will be positively correlated with forgive-
ness and negatively correlated with vengeance.
Hypothesis 2. Forgiveness will be negatively correlated to ven-
geance.
Hypothesis 3. Gratitude will mediate the relation between forgive-
ness and vengeance.

METHOD
Participants
The research is based on a convenience sample of 331 undergraduate
students (185 women, 146 men; M age = 19.9 yr., SD = 1.3, range = 17–24)
from a variety of departments at Sakarya University in Turkey. Of the par-
ticipants, 86 (26%) were freshmen, 87 (26%) were sophomores, 89 (27%)
were juniors, and 69 (21%) were seniors.
Measures
Three measures were used, as previously translated into Turkish. The
Appendix lists these items in their Turkish forms.
The Gratitude Questionnaire–Six-item Form (McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang,
2002).—The scale is a six-item self-report questionnaire designed to evalu-
ate individual differences in the proneness to experience gratitude in dai-
ly life (e.g., “If I had to list everything that I felt grateful for, it would
be a very long list”) on a seven-point, Likert-type scale with anchors 1:
Strongly disagree and 7: Strongly agree. A Turkish adaptation of this scale
was developed by Akin and Yuksel (2011). The result of confirmatory
factor analysis indicated that the model was a good fit: χ2 = 5.19, df = 4;
4 S. A. SATICI, ET AL.

RMSEA = 0.028, NFI = 0.97, CFI = 0.99, GFI = 0.97, and SRMR = 0.033.
Cronbach's α coefficient of the questionnaire was .71. In the present study,
Cronbach's α was .79.
Vengeance Scale (Stuckless & Goranson, 1992).—Vengeance was mea-
sured using the translated Turkish version of the Vengeance Scale (Satici,
Can, & Akin, 2011). The scale consists of 20 items (e.g., “If someone causes
me trouble, I’ll find a way to make him regret it”), and each item was pre-
sented on a seven-point Likert-type scale with anchors 1: Disagree strong-
ly and 7: Agree strongly. The total score can range from 20 to 140; a high-
er score indicates stronger feelings of vengeance. Results of confirmatory
factor analysis indicated that the model fit the data acceptably (RMSEA =
0.061, SRMR = 0.050, NFI = 0.95, CFI = 0.97, IFI = 0.97, RFI = 0.94, GFI =
0.91). Internal consistency reliability was .91 and test-retest reliability coef-
ficient was .87. In the present study, Cronbach’s α was .87.
Trait Forgiveness Scale (Berry, Worthington‚ Parrott, & Wade, 2005).—The
scale consists of 10 items (e.g., “I can forgive a friend for almost anything”)
and items are scored on a five-point Likert scale with anchors 1: Strong-
ly disagree and 5: Strongly agree. Total scores range from 10 to 50, where
higher scores indicate a stronger tendency to express forgiveness. Turkish
adaptation of this scale had been done by Akin, Akin, and Gediksiz (2012).
The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the model was a
weak but acceptable fit for research purposes (χ2 = 106.47, df = 32, p < .001;
RMSEA = .077, CFI = 0.89, GFI = 0.95, AGFI = 0.91, and SRMR = 0.062).
The internal consistency coefficient of the scale was .67 and the corrected
item-total correlations ranged from .26 to .43. In the present study, Cron-
bach’s α was .79.
Procedure and Data Analysis
Researchers administered the self-report questionnaires to the stu-
dents in the classroom environment; participants were all volunteer stu-
dents, not from intact classes. The measures were counterbalanced in ad-
ministration. All participation was voluntary. Students did not place their
names on the measures and were advised not to talk each other. Partici-
pants completed the questionnaires in approximately in 20 min.
In order to test mediating role of gratitude on the relationships be-
tween forgiveness and vengeance, hierarchical regression procedures were
performed as recommended by Baron and Kenny (1986). According to
Baron and Kenny (1986), four conditions must be met to show statistical-
ly the mediating effect of gratitude on the path between forgiveness and
vengeance: (1) forgiveness must be associated with gratitude, (2) forgive-
ness also must be associated with vengeance, (3) gratitude must be related
to vengeance, (4) when gratitude is controlled, there must be a statistically
 FORGIVENESS, GRATITUDE, AND VENGEANCE 5

significant reduction in the effect of forgiveness on vengeance. If the rela-

tion is reduced to non-significant levels, full mediation is demonstrated.
Partial mediation occurs when the correlation between forgiveness and
vengeance is reduced but still significant. These analyses were carried out
using SPSS.
RESULTS
Table 1 depicts the intercorrelations, means, standard deviations, skew-
ness, and kurtosis of the gratitude, vengeance, and forgiveness scores. As can
be seen in Table 1, there are significant correlations among gratitude, ven-
geance, and forgiveness. Gratitude was related negatively to vengeance
and positively to forgiveness. As expected, vengeance was negatively re-
lated to forgiveness.

TABLE 1
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS AND CORRELATIONS OF VARIABLES (95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS)
r331
Variable M SD Skewness Kurtosis
Gratitude Vengeance
Gratitude 28.11 6.10 –.47 .26
Vengeance 73.53 21.75 –.22 .37 –.47† (–.55, –.38)
Forgiveness 30.35 5.59 –.34 .34 .43† (.34, .51) –.57† (–.64, –.49)
†p < .01.

The results of the regression analysis predicting vengeance as a func-

tion of forgiveness and mediated by gratitude appear in Table 2. The tol-
erance statistic of 0.81 is well above the threshold of 0.1, showing that the
high correlations are not distorting the analysis. All four of the conditions
specified by Baron and Kenny (1986) were met: (1) variations in levels of
forgiveness accounted for variations in gratitude; (2) the relationship be-
tween forgiveness and vengeance was initially significant; (3) variations
in gratitude significantly accounted for variations in vengeance; and (4)
with gratitude in the equation, the standardized regression coefficient for
forgiveness on vengeance decreased significantly from –.57 to –.45. Fur-
ther, because the latter coefficient (–.45) was still significant, gratitude only
partially mediated between vengeance and forgiveness.
The results of the third regression in Table 2 show the proportion of
the total effect of forgiveness: –.65, on vengeance, consisting of the direct
effect, –.45, and the indirect effect through gratitude, –.20. For the third re-
gression, an R2 of .39 has an effect size of Cohen's f 2 = 0.63, considered a
large effect (Cohen, 1992). Therefore, the total effect of forgiveness on ven-
geance via gratitude can be considered large. Sobel's test (1982) indicated
a significant mediation effect for gratitude (z = –6.50, SE = 0.12, p < .001).
6 S. A. SATICI, ET AL.

TABLE 2
HIERARCHICAL REGRESSION ANALYSIS: FORGIVENESS ON VENGEANCE VIA GRATITUDE

Variable B SEB 95% CI B β t F

(1) Regression of gratitude on forgiveness
Forgiveness 0.47 .054 .37, .58 .43 8.71 75.94‡
(2) Regression of vengeance on forgiveness
Forgiveness –2.22 .176 –2.57, –1.89 –.57 –12.63 159.62‡
(3) Regression of vengeance on forgiveness and gratitude
Forgiveness –1.76 .187 –2.13, –1.40 –.45 –9.45
103.78‡
Gratitude –0.98 .171 –1.31, –0.64 –.27 –5.71
‡p < .001.

DISCUSSION
The goal of this study was to examine the mediating role of gratitude
in the relationship between forgiveness and vengeance. As expected, the
best model indicated that the relationship between forgiveness and ven-
geance was partially mediated by gratitude. In other words, as forgive-
ness increases in this model, feelings of vengeance decrease, and grati-
tude plays a mediating role in that increase. This result is important for
several reasons. The study suggests the importance of gratitude among
positive relational characteristics. If individuals feel more gratitude, they
may show less tendency to feelings of vengeance and possibly decrease
the associated behaviors as well. In having more positive emotional feel-
ings toward other people, gratitude may be associated with viewing the
wrongdoer with compassion instead of seeking revenge and experiencing
interpersonal conflict. It should be noted that in this Turkish sample, most
participants were Muslim. Forgiveness is considered a virtue in Islam; the
same results might be found in other cultures and religions in which for-
giveness is valued.
Although other studies have suggested that gratitude may affect
forgiveness positively and is a significant predictor of forgiveness (Mc-
Cullough, et al., 2002; Neto, 2007; Breen, et al., 2010), and gratitude may
be related negatively to lower forgiveness and higher vengeance (Strelan,
2007), no research has addressed mediation in these relationships. In oth-
er words, understanding of these relationships in the gratitude literature
needs more nuance. Examination of the mediation provides insight into
potential areas for clinical research: to increase forgiveness, shown to be
an important construct in well-being, a focus on gratitude should be in-
vestigated as a way to decrease anger, aggression (Baumeister, 1999), and
even violence (Bushman & Anderson, 2001).
As expected, the results of the correlation analysis of the study showed
that vengeance, which can be seen as a motivational factor in a wide vari-
 FORGIVENESS, GRATITUDE, AND VENGEANCE 7

ety of antisocial behaviors (Stuckless & Goranson, 1992), has a negative re-
lationship with forgiveness and gratitude. These results are in accordance
with previous studies demonstrating a negative relationship between ven-
geance, forgiveness, and other adaptive psychological constructs (Suk-
hodolsky, Galub, & Cromwell, 2001; Barber, et al., 2005; Ysseldyk, et al., 2007).
There were several limitations of the design. Firstly, with respect to
the issue of generalizability, it is noteworthy to mention that the sample
was university students in Turkey. It is not clear that how well these re-
sults would generalize to other sample groups or cultures. It is also impor-
tant to note that, although they were all volunteers, the participants were
not from intact classes. Secondly, as correlational statistics were utilized,
no definitive statements can be made about causality. Future longitudinal
or experimental studies will facilitate understanding of causality. Thirdly,
the data reported here for gratitude, forgiveness, and vengeance are self-
reports. Different or multiple methods for evaluation would decrease the
subjectivity biases. It is clear that there is a need for more research about
these constructs. Lastly, this study was not subject to approval by an insti-
tutional review board, as that was not required; but the Helsinki Declara-
tion was honored.
In conclusion, the results indicated that gratitude plays an important
role as a mediator between forgiveness and vengeance. The results suggest
that gratitude plays a key role in supporting well-being. Mental health
professionals may develop research to assess the effectiveness of gratitude
improvement programs to help university students to decrease anger and
aggression and increase forgiveness, to have better mental health, and to
increase subjective well-being.
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religion, and health. In T. G. Plante & A. C. Sherman (Eds.), Faith and health: psy-
chological perspectives. New York: Guilford Press.
YSSELDYK, R., MATHESON, K., & ANISMAN, H. (2007) Rumination: bridging a gap between
forgivingness, vengefulness, and psychological health. Personality and Individual
Differences, 42, 1573-1584.

Accepted November 27, 2013.

 FORGIVENESS, GRATITUDE, AND VENGEANCE 11

APPENDIX
TURKISH TRANSLATIONS OF MEASURES AS ADMINISTERED IN THIS STUDY
Item Brief English Item Full Turkish Item
The Gratitude Questionnaire—Six Item Form
1. I have so much in life ... Yaşamımda minnettar olduğum çok
fazla şey var.
2. If I had to list everything ... Minnettar olduğum her şeyi bir liste
yapmam gerekseydi bu çok uzun
bir liste olurdu.
3. When I look at the world, ... Yaşamıma baktığımda minnettar
olacağım çok fazla şey görmüyo-
rum.
4. I am grateful ... Çok sayıda insana minnettarım.
5. As I get older I find myself ... Yaşım ilerledikçe hayatımda yer almış
insan, olay ve durumlara daha çok
minnet duyabildiğimi hissediyo-
rum.
6. Long amounts of time ... Birine veya bir şeye minnet duymam
çok zaman alabilir.
Vengeance Scale
1. It’s not worth my time ... Bana yanlış yapan birinden öç almak
için zamanımı harcamaya veya çaba
sarf etmeye değmez.
2. It is important for me ... Beni inciten insanlardan bunun acısını
çıkartmak benim için önemlidir.
3. I try to even the score ... Beni inciten herhangi birinin hesabını
görmeye çalışırım.
4. It is always better not ... İntikam peşinde koşmamak her za-
man daha iyidir.
5. I live by the motto “Let ... “Bırak geçmiş geçmişte kalsın’’ sözü
yaşam felsefemdir.
6. There is nothing wrong ... Biri seni incitirse bunun karşılığını ona
ödetmek yanlış değildir.
7. I don’t just get mad ... Biri beni çok sinirlendirdiğinde sadece
kızmakla yetinmem bunun acısını
ondan çıkarırım.
8. I find it easy to forgive ... Beni incitenleri affetmeyi daha kolay
buluyorum.
9. I am not a vengeful ... Kinci biri değilim.
10. I believe in the motto “An eye ...” “Göze göz dişe diş” deyişine inanırım.
11. Revenge is morally ... İntikam ahlaki olarak yanlıştır.
12. If someone causes me ... Eğer biri beni belaya bulaştırırsa,
onları bir şekilde buna pişman
ederim.
(continued on next page)
 12 S. A. SATICI, ET AL.

APPENDIX (CONT’D)
TURKISH TRANSLATIONS OF MEASURES AS ADMINISTERED IN THIS STUDY
Item Brief English Item Full Turkish Item
13. If I am wronged ... Eğer haksızlığa uğramışsam
intikamımı almadan duramam.
14. Honor requires that you ... Onurlu biri olmak, seni inciten birin-
den bunun intikamını almayı ger-
ektirir.
15. It is usually better to show ... Genellikle merhamet göstermek inti-
kam almaktan daha iyidir.
16. Anyone who provokes me ... Beni kızdıran kim olursa olsun, bunun
cezasını çekmeyi hak etmiştir.
17. It is always better to “turn ...” “Sana taş atana gül atmak” her zaman
daha iyidir.
18. To have a desire for vengeance ... İntikam alma isteği beni utandırır.
19. Revenge is ... Öç almak zevklidir.
20. People who insist on ... İntikam almak için ısrar eden insanlar
tiksinti vericidir.
Trait Forgiveness Scale
1. People close to me ... Bana yakın olan insanlar uzun süre
kin tuttuğumu düşünür.
2. I can forgive a friend ... Bana karşı yaptığı tüm hatalara
rağmen arkadaşımı affedebilirim.
3. If someone treats me badly ... Birisi bana kötü bir şekilde davranırsa,
ona aynı şekilde davranırım.
4. I try to forgive others ... İnsanlar bana karşı olan hatalarından
olayı suçluluk duymasalar da onları
affetmeyi denerim.
5. I can usually forgive ... Genellikle onurumu inciten
davranışları affedebilir ve onları un-
utabilirim.
6. I feel bitter about ... İlişkilerimin çoğu bana acı yaşatmıştır.
7. Even after I forgive ... Birisini affettikten sonra bile,
gücendiğim şeyler çoğu kez aklıma
gelir.
8. There are some things ... Sevdiğim birinin bile asla
affedemeyeceğim bir şeyleri vardır.
9. I have always forgiven ... Beni inciten insanları daima
affetmişimdir.
10. I am a forgiving ... Affedici bir insanım.

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