Attitude to forgive scale.

Abstract

The forgiveness takes up an important place within the current Clinical Psychology and specifically in the therapeutic interventions. This research presents the construction of a scale designed to assess youth and adult’s attitude to forgive, with the future intention of applying to women victims of gender violence. The main objective was to create an instrument that would measure the forgiveness in all its dimensions (situational, “for other” and “for oneself”) and different types of responses that integrate this construct (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral). The process is started with the selection of items that were revised by experts, resulting a scale composed by 26 items that was applied to a sample of 800 people, mostly family and friends of students of the University of Jaén. The instrument shows adequate levels of reliability and validity, showing its relationship with other scales such as the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS). The application of the scale can help to supplement future studies on forgiveness and provide a tool for professionals working with people who have been damaged or offended. The forgiveness and the management of empathy improvement have become key elements in this kind of therapy.

Keywords

• escala
• perdón
• violencia de género
• empatía
• satisfacción vital