Introduction

1. The Hypothesized Model Introduction A small but growing literature points to an important connection between forgiveness and physical health (Worthington, Witvliet, Lerner, & Scherer, 2005; Worthington, Witvliet, Pietrini, & Miller, 2007). To date, most studies have focused exclusively on documenting this relationship and have done this through a variety of experimental and correlational methods. Fewer studies have focused on understanding what mechanisms might underlie the connection between forgiveness and physical health. This is the case despite clear interest in mechanisms expressed almost a decade ago (Thoresen, Harris, & Luskin, 2000). A notable exception is the line of work being done by Lawler and her colleagues (e.g., Lawler et al., 2005). Lawler’s studies have shown that forgiveness is connected to improved physical health and that this improvement appears to be mediated by factors such as stress/negative affect, anger/hostility, and spirituality, among others. The results from Lawler’s laboratory suggest that well-documented psychosocial predictors of physical health may act as mechanisms that convey the benefits of forgiveness to physical health status. Results BivariateAnalyses Pearson correlation analyses showed that dispositional forgiveness was correlated with physical health indicators. Dispositional forgiveness was also correlated with all mediators and nearly all mediators were correlated with physical health indicators. SEM Estimation The hypothesized model was tested using maximum likelihood estimation in AMOS 16. Several fit indices were examined to evaluate the overall fit of the model: 2 (30, N = 185) = 83.85, p < .001; CFI = .94; RMR = .02; RMSEA = .10. Taken together, these fit indices suggest that the hypothesized model is a reasonable fit for the data in this study. Indirect Effects The hypothesized model showed a statistically significant indirect effect through the four latent mediators. Since no test of individual mediators currently exists for multiple mediator SEMs, we tested the individual latent mediators in separate models. Fit indices and indirect effects are in the table to the right. Models and path coefficients are presented in the figure above. Understanding Mechanisms of the InterfaceBetween Forgiveness and Physical HealthMitch Zoelzer, Jenny Sletten, and Loren Toussaint Model Statistics The model we employ is a structural equation model (SEM) with latent mediators and a latent health outcome variable. We examine the association between dispositional forgiveness and the latent physical health variable and test the mediating effects of distress, outlook, spirituality, and anger/hostility as defined in the figure above. • Measures • Participants & Procedures A total of 185 undergraduates from Luther College participated in this study. Participants were 67% female and the average age was 19.5 years. Participants completed multiple assessments as part of a larger ongoing project investigating forgiveness, health, and mechanisms (see table to the right). • Conclusions Summary The bivariate results of this study suggest that dispositional forgiveness has a small association with physical health indicators. Furthermore, dispositional forgiveness shows small to moderate associations with mediating variables which in turn show small to moderate associations with physical health indicators. Perhaps more interesting are the results of the structural equation models. Dispositional forgiveness is associated with four latent mediating mechanisms at moderate to large magnitudes. However, only distress and outlook mediators show significant associations with the physical health construct. Examination of the indirect effects confirm that only distress and outlook show significant mediating effects. Implications Given growing attention to the potential role of forgiveness in improving physical health, it is important to understand how salubrious effects of forgiveness could occur. The present study provides an initial step in understanding these mechanisms and offers empirical support for theories of forgiveness and health that postulate well-established psychosocial mediators as mechanisms. • Objectives Our purpose in conducting the present study was to not only examine the connection between dispositional forgiveness and physical health, but also to examine latent mediators of this association. Acknowledgements: This study was supported by a generous grant from the Dean’s Office at Luther College.