PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETINMcCullough et al. / VENGEFUL - PDF document

PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETINMcCullough et al. / VENGEFULNESS AND FORGIVENESS Vengefulness: Relationships With Forgiveness,Rumination, Well-Being, and the Big FiveNational Institute for Healthcare ResearchC. Garth BellahLouisiana Tech UniversityNational Institute for Healthcare Research Christopher Newport University Authors’Note: (e.g.,Baumeister,1997;Black,1998;Tedeschi&Felson,1994).Thedesireforvengeanceisfrequentlycitedasamotiveformanydestructiveandaggressiveinterpersonalbehaviors,includinghomicide(Counts,1987),rape(Scully&Marolla,1985),arson(Bradford,1982),shoplifting(Turner&Cashdan,1988),andsexualinfidelity(Mongeau,Hale,&Alles,1994).Angerandrevengearecitedasmotivationsfornearly50%ofadolescents’interpersonalviolence(Pfefferbaum&Wood,1994).Moreover,thedesireforvengeancemakescertaindestructiveinterpersonalbehaviorseasiertojustifyVENGEANCE AND WHAT IT IS INTENDED TO DOVengeanceisanattempttoredressaninterpersonaloffensebyvoluntarilycommittinganaggressiveactionagainsttheperceivedoffender.Ofcourse,vengeancecanbeviewedasabasicexpressionofthereciprocitynorm(e.g.,Gouldner,1960);thatis,thebasicinclinationtoreturnharmforharm.Inaddition,however,vengeancemightencompassatleastthreesubsidiarygoals.Vengeanceasbalancingthescales.Onepossiblegoalunderlyingvengeanceisthedesireto“geteven,”“bal-ancethescales,”or“givetitfortat.”Theverysortoflaylanguageusedforvengeancerevealstheperceivedutil-ityofvengeanceforrestoringmoralbalance.Thus,ven-geancemightbeunderstood,atleastfromthevengefulperson’s point of view, as truly moral.Vengeanceasmoralinstruction.Vengeancealsocaninvolvethedesireto“teachtheoffenderalesson”(Baumeister,1997;Heider,1958).Vengeance,inthissense,issymbolicbehaviordesignedtoconvincetheoffenderthataparticulartypeofbehaviorwillnotbetoleratedorgounpunished.Thegoalofcontributingtothemoraleducationoftheoffenderisprobablycloselyrelatedtothegoalofbalancingthescalesbutisnotidenticaltoit:Themoral-educativefunctionofvengeanceisaddressedspecificallyattheoffender,whereasitsmoralbalancingfunctionisnotaddressedtoanythinginparticular (except, perhaps, some invisible moral order).Vengeanceassavingface.Vengeancealsomightbemotivatedbythegoalofsavingface.Victimstypicallyattributetotheiroffendersabeliefthatthevictimwasnotworthyofbettertreatment(Heider,1958).UsingHeider’s(1958)language,revengeisanattempttochangethebelief-attitudestructureoftheoffender(p.267)sothattheoffendedpersoncomestobeperceivedassomeonewhoshouldberespectedandnottrifledwithinthesamewayagain.Byrespondingtotheinitialoffensewithevenmoreaggression,theoffenderattemptstocommunicateanevenstrongermessagetotheoffender(andbystanderswhomighthavewitnessedtheoffense;seeBrown,CORRELATES OF VENGEFULNESSVengefulness,asweusetheterm,isadispositionthatorientspeopletowardrevengeaftertheyhavesufferedaninterpersonaloffense.Vengefulnessrefersbothto(a)beliefsandattitudesaboutthemoralityordesirabilityofvengefulactionsforattainingcertaingoals(e.g.,restoringthemoralbalance,teachinganoffenderalesson,savingface)and(b)self-reporteduseofvengeanceasaninterpersonal problem-solving strategy.VengefulnessandtheBigFive.InvokingtheBigFivetaxonomyofpersonality(e.g.,John,1990),weexpectvengefulnesstoberelatedtotwooftheBigFivepersonalityfactors.ThefirstoftheseisNeuroticism.PeoplehighinNeuroticismexperiencefrequentnegativeaffect,instabilityofaffect,andgreatersensitivitytonegativeevents.Neuroticism,alongwithitscousinnegativeaffectivity,alsopredisposespeopletobeingeasilyoffendedandangered(Berkowitz,1990;Caprara,Barbaranelli,&Comrey,1992;Caprara,Manzi,&Perugini,1992;Martin&Watson,1997)and,thus,allelsebeingequal,perhapstobeinghigherinvengeful-WealsoexpectvengefulpeopletobelowinAgree-ableness.AgreeablenessisconsideredtobetheBigFivefactorwiththegreatestrelevanceforhowpeoplecon-ducttheirinterpersonalrelationships(e.g.,Graziano,Jensen-Campbell,&Hair,1996).Agreeablenessreflectsaprosocialorientationtowardothersthatincludessuchqualitiesasaltruism,kindness,andtrust.PeoplelowinAgreeablenesshavegreateramountsofconflictwithpeersanddifficultiesinrelationalclosenessandcommitment(Asendorpf&Wilpers,1998;Grazianoetal.,1996).Theyalsohaveempathydeficits(see,e.g.,Ashton,Paunonen,Helmes,&Jackson,1998).Furthermore,itisnotablethattermssuchas“vengeful”and“forgiving”areprototypicalmarkersofAgreeableness(e.g.,John,1990;VengefulnessandruminationaboutinterpersonaloffensesAlthoughsomeactsofvengeancemightbespontaneousandimpulsive,wepositthatmotivationstoseekrevengefrequentlyresultfromruminativethinkingabouttheoffense.Thus,weexpectthatpeoplewithhighlevelsofvengefulnessengageinmoreruminativethinkingaboutoffensestheyhaveincurred.Totheextentthatthisisthecase,ruminationabouttheoffensecouldbeseenasaby-productofvengefulpeople’sattemptstokeepthegoalsofvengeanceclearlyinfocus:Vengefulpeopleruminateontheinjusticesandharmtheyhavesufferedtokeepthemselvesfocusedonthegoalof“balancingthescales,”“teachingtheoffenderalesson,”or“savingface.”Thispredictionissupportedbythefactthatmeasuresofattitudesregardingrevengearepositivelycorrelated602PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN withstandardmeasuresofruminativethinking(Emmons,1992).Itappearsthatruminativetendenciesinterferewithpeople’sabilitiestoforgiveaninterpersonaltransgression(McCulloughetal.,1998;Metts&Cupach,1998).Conversely,ruminationispositivelyassociatedwiththeextenttowhichpeopleaggressagainstindividualswhohavethreatenedtheirself-esteemVengefulnessandsubjectivewell-being.Thespeculationthatruminationamongvengefulpeopleservesagoal-directivefunctiondoesnotnecessarilyimplythatruminationisapleasantexperience.Indeed,anironyofvengeancecouldbethatrumination,whichisusedintheserviceofthegoalofseekingvengeance,couldactuallyperpetuatetheemotionaldistressthatvengeanceisintendedtodissipate(seeWegner,1998).Becauseruminationaboutanoffensemightbesuchanironicprocess,weexpectpeoplehighinvengefulnesstobeworkingactivelytosuppresstheirnegativethoughtsabouttheoffense.TheruminationandsuppressionthatareexpectedtoaccompanyvengefulnessintheaftermathofaninterpersonaloffensearethusexpectedtotakeatollGiventhisconceptualization,wehypothesizedthatvengefulnesswas(a)positivelyrelatedtoruminationabouttheoffense,effortstosuppressthoseruminations,andnegativeaffectivity/Neuroticismand(b)inverselyrelatedtoforgiveness,subjectivewell-being,andAgree-ableness.Furthermore,wepredictedthatvengefulpeo-plewouldshowlessreductioninruminationandsup-pression,lessreductioninavoidanceandrevengemotivations,andlessincreaseinsubjectivewell-beingovertime.Wealsopredictedthatchangesovertimeinrumination,suppression,forgiving,andsatisfactionwithWeaddressedthesehypothesesintwostudies.InStudy1,weexaminedtheassociationofvengefulnesswiththelongitudinaltrajectoryofpeople’sresponsestoaspecificinterpersonaltransgressionthroughoutan8-weekfollow-upperiod.InStudy2,weinvestigatedtheassociationofvengefulnesswiththeconstructsintheBigFive model of personality.PARTICIPANTSParticipantswere91volunteersfromintroductorypsychologycoursesatamedium-sizepublicuniversity(36menand55women).Participantsvolunteeredforparticipationinastudyof“studenthealth,lifestyles,andrelationships.”Allparticipantsreportedhavingbeenoffendedbyanotherpersonlessthan2monthspriortothe study.Vengefulness.Weassessedrespondents’vengefulnesswithsevenitemsfromMaugeretal.’s(1991)ForgivenessofOthersScale,whichassessesvengefulness.Theseitemswereplacedona7-pointLikert-typescale(1=stronglydisagreestronglyagree)toincreasescalevariance.Theseven-itemformishighlycorrelatedwithCaprara’s(1986)Dissipation-RuminationScale(=.79)andEmmons’s(1992)BeliefsAboutRevengeQuestionnaire(=.68)(McCullough,Emmons,Kilpatrick,&Mooney, 1999).ImpactofEventScale(IES).TheIES(Horowitz,Wilner,&Alvarez,1979)isa15-itemself-reportmeasurethatindicatestheextenttowhichtherespondent(a)experiencesintrusivethoughts,affects,andimageryregardingaspecificlifeeventanditscontext(theintrusivenesssubscale,whichwecallrumination)and(b)attemptstoavoidintrusivethoughts,affects,andimageryregardingthisspecificlifeevent(theavoidancesubscale,whichwecallsuppression).Itemswerepresentedona5-pointLikert-typescale(1=notatall)toindicatehowfrequentlytherespondentexperiencedruminativethoughts,affects,orimageryregardingaspecificinter-personaloffense(e.g.,“IthoughtaboutitwhenIdidn’tmeanto”)orattemptedtosuppressthethoughts,affects,andimageryrelatedtothespecificinterpersonaloffense.ParticipantscompletedtheIESinasectionofthequestionnairetitled“APainfulHurtSinceChrist-mas,”whichinstructedthemtofocusonasingleoffensethattheyhadincurredsinceChristmasvacation.Theywereinstructedtothinkbackontheprevious7daysandtoindicatehowfrequentlytheyhadexperiencedeachof15ruminativeorsuppressivesymptomsduringthattimeperiod.Whenusedtorateinterpersonaloffensesinthismanner,internalconsistencyreliabilitiesforthesescalesTransgression-RelatedInterpersonalMotivations(TRIM)Inventory.ForgivingwasmeasuredwiththeTRIMInventory(McCulloughetal.,1998).TheTRIMconsistsof12itemsthatareusedtoindicatetheextenttowhichoneexperiencestwonegativemotivationalstatesthatMcCulloughetal.(1997)hypothesizedtounderlieinterpersonalforgiving.Therevengesubscaleconsistsoffiveitemsthatassessrespondents’desiretoseekrevengeagainstsomeonewhocommittedaspecifictransgressionagainstthem(e.g.,“I’llmakehimorherpay.”).Theavoidancesubscaleconsistsofsevenitemsthatassessrespondents’desiretomaintainrelationaldistancefromtheirtransgressor(e.g.,“Iliveasifheorshedoesn’texist,isn’taround).Itemsareratedona5-pointLikert-typescale(1=stronglydisagreestronglyagreeMcCullough et al. / VENGEFULNESS AND FORGIVENESS603 Internalconsistencyreliabilities(alpha)forbothsubscalesrangefrom.85to.93andtest-retestreliabilitieshavebeenintherangeof.44to.65(McCulloughetal.,1998).Constructvalidityissupportedthroughconfirmatoryfactoranalysesindicatingthatthemeasurementmodelisagoodfit(ComparativeFitIndex�.90)totherelationshipsamongthe12items(McCulloughetal.,1998).Thesesubscalesalsomanifestconvergentanddiscriminantvaliditythrough(a)moderatecorrelationswithmeasuresofoffense-specificrumination,empathy,andrelationalclosenessand(b)lowcorrelationswithmeasuresofsocialdesirability(McCulloughetal.,1998).AstheydidwiththeIES,participantscompletedtheTRIMafterbeinginstructedtothinkoftheworsthurtthathadoccurredtothemsinceChristmasvacation.Then,theycompletedtheTRIMtodescribetheirthoughtsandfeelingsregardingthespecificpersonwhoSatisfactionWithLifeScale(SWLS).TheSWLS(Diener,Emmons,Larsen,&Griffin,1985)isa5-itemself-reportmeasureofthecognitivecomponentofsubjectivewell-being(e.g.,“Inmostwaysmylifeisclosetoideal.”).TheSWLSisnegativelycorrelatedwithmeasuresofpsy-chologicaldistressandNeuroticismandispositivelycor-relatedwithExtraversion.Internalconsistencyishighandtest-reteststabilityestimatesarefrequentlyintheupper.80sandexceed.50evenafter4years(Pavot&Diener, 1993).Negativeaffectivity.Wemeasuredrespondents’dispositionaltendencytoexperiencenegativeaffectwiththetraitNAformofWatson,Clark,andTellegen’s(1988)PositiveandNegativeAffectSchedule(PANAS).ThePANASconsistsof10positiveaffect(PA)and10negativeaffect(NA)adjectivesthatparticipantscompletedtoindicatetheextenttowhichthey“generally[feel]eachfeeling,thatishow[theyfeel]onaverage.”Respondentscompletedeachofthe10NAitemsusinga5-pointLikert-typescale(1=veryslightlyextremelyInternalconsistency(alpha)andtest-retestreliabilityarehighforboththePAandNAscales.NAishighlycorrelatedwithmeasuresofBigFiveNeuroticism(i.e.,=.58)(Watson,Wiese,Vaidya,&Tellegen,1999)andwasusedinthepresentstudyasacovariatetoadjusttheassociationsofvengefulnessandothervariablesforthewell-establishedassociationsofNAwithmeasuresofanger,hostility,andaggression(e.g.,Berkowitz,1990;Martin & Watson, 1997).Inthewinterterm,werecruitedparticipantsfromseveralundergraduatepsychologycoursesbyannouncingthatwewereinterestedinexaminingtheexperiencesofpeoplewhohadbeenseriouslyoffendedbysomeoneinApproximately39%ofrespondentsindicatedthattheyhadbeenseriouslyhurtbyasignificantother,26%indicatedafriend,16%indicatedafamilymember,and19%indicatedsomeoneelse.Thefollowingaresomeexamplesofthetypesofoffensesthatrespondentsreportedhavingsuffered:“Myboyfriendjusttoldmethathewantstostartdatingotherpeople”;“Ihadafightwithmyparentsthatreallyhurtmyfeelings”;“Ifoundoutaboutaweekagothatmygirlfriendwassleepingwithmyroommate”;“Iheardthatagoodfriendhasbeenspreadingrumorsaboutmethatarenottrue”;and“SomeoneoncampuscalledmearacialslurthathurtmeParticipantscompletedasingleitem(“Howdeeplyhurtwereyouwhentheincidentoccurred?”)thatweadaptedfromSubkoviaketal.(1995).Participantsrespondedtothissingleitemona5-pointLikert-typescale(1=nohurtagreatdealofhurt).Themeanscoreonthisitemwas3.63(=1.32).Approximately9%respondedwithascoreof1(nohurt),12%witha2(alittlehurt),22%witha3(somehurt),22%witha4(muchhurta great deal of hurtFollowingrecruitment,participantscompleteditemsfromMaugeretal.(1991)constitutingthevengefulnessmeasure,theIES,theTRIM,theSWLS,andthePANAS.Approximately8weekslater,werecontactedstudentsanddistributedasecondbatteryofinstruments.Stu-dentscompletedthissecondbatteryofinstrumentsout-sideofclassindividuallyandthenreturnedthemduringthenextclassperiod.Sixty-one(67%)oftheoriginal91Becausetherewerenodifferencesamongmenandwomenonanyofthemajorvariables(allvalues|1.3|,s&#x-232;&#x.300;.20),datawereanalyzedsimultaneouslyformenandwomen.Means,standarddeviations,internalconsistencyreliabilityestimates,andtest-retestcorrelationsforthemajorstudyvariablesappearinTable1.Correlationsamong variables appear in Table 2.CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSESAtbaseline(s=86to90),vengefulnesswaspositivelycorrelatedwithrumination,TRIM-revenge,TRIM-avoidance,andnegativeaffectivityandwasnegativelycorrelatedwithsatisfactionwithlife(seeTable2).Thus,peoplewithhighervengefulnessscoresruminatedmore,werelessforgiving,andhadlesssatisfactionwithlife and higher negative affectivity.LONGITUDINAL ANALYSESWeexaminedwhethervengefulnesswasassociatedwiththeextenttowhichrumination,suppression,forgiv604PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN ing,andsatisfactionwithlifechangedoverthe8-weekstudyperiod.Theselongitudinalanalysesincludeddatafromthe61participantsfromthebaselinesamplewhoprovideddatabothatbaselineandatfollow-up.Priortoconductingtheseanalyses,weconfirmedwithaseriesteststhattherespondentswhoprovideddataatTime2didnotdifferfromtheparticipantswhodidnotpro-videdataatTime2onanyofthevariablesmeasuredatTime1,allvalues|1.8|(alls&#x-345;&#x.200;.05).Theapparentequivalenceofthesetwogroupsofrespondentssuggeststhatdataweremissingcompletelyatrandom(Allison,inpress)and,therefore,thattheresultsoftheselongitudi-Weconductedaseriesoffivehierarchicalregressionanalyses.Toensurethatanyobservedassociationsofvengefulnessandthecriterionvariablescouldnotbeattributedtotheassociationsofnegativeaffectivitywithmeasuresofanger,hostility,andaggression(Berkowitz,1990;Martin&Watson,1997),weenterednegativeaffectivityatthefirststepineachregressionanalysis.Thenweaddedvengefulnessatthesecondstepineachregressionanalysis.Thefivecriterionvariableswereresidualizedchangeonfivevariables(rumination,suppression,TRIM-avoidance,TRIM-revenge,andsatisfactionwithlife).Theseresidualswerecreatedbyregressingfollow-upvaluesforeachofthevariablesonitsbaselinevalues.Changescorescreatedwithsuchregressionmethodsaremorereliablethanpre-postdifferenceAscanbeseeninTable3,negativeaffectivitywasnotsignificantlyassociatedwithanyofthefivecriterionvariables,alls&#x-345;&#x.200;.05.However,atthesecondstep(i.e.,afterhavingcontrolledfornegativeaffectivity),vengefulnesswasrelatedtoresidualizedchangeinTRIM-revengescores.Vengefulnessaccountedfor23%ofthechangeinTRIM-revengescoresafterhavingcontrolledfornegativeaffect.Peoplewithhighlevelsofvengefulnesstendedtomaintainhigherrevengemotivationstowardtheiroffenders(=.50,.05).Theassociationsofvengefulnessandtheotherfourcriteriawerenotsignifi-SUBSIDIARY LONGITUDINAL ANALYSESToexaminethepossibilitythatchangeinrumination,suppression,forgiveness,andsatisfactionwithlifewereinterrelated,weexaminedthecorrelationsamongtheirresidualized change scores (see Table 4).Correlationsofresidualizedchangeinrumination,suppression,andforgiving.PeoplewhoexperiencedrelativereductionsinruminationovertimealsoexperiencedrelativereductionsinTRIM-avoidancescores,(60)=.43,.05,andrelativereductionsinTRIM-revengescores,(60)=.26,.05.PeoplewhoexperiencedrelativereductionsinsuppressionovertimealsoexperiencedrelativereductionsinTRIM-avoidancescores,(60)=.35,.05,andrelativereductionsinTRIM-revengescores,(60)=.37,.05.Thus,peoplewhoruminatedandsuppressedlessovertimealsobecamemoreforgivingoverWeevaluatedthepossibilitythattheamountofhurtcausedbytheoffensewasresponsibleforthecorrelationsbetweentheseresidualizedchangescoresbyMcCullough et al. / VENGEFULNESS AND FORGIVENESS605TABLE 1: Means, Standard Deviations, and Test-Retest Correlations of Major Study VariablesBaselineFollow-Up VariableMSDMSDTest-RetestVengefulness21.419.25.8521.279.06.87Rumination13.6010.92.9110.919.39.92Suppression16.3810.81.8625.398.99.82TRIM-Avoidance18.248.50.9117.197.75.93TRIM-Revenge8.955.37.928.313.71.89Satisfaction with life25.336.00.8526.055.96.91Positive affectivity37.246.80.87————Negative affectivity19.917.42.87———— NOTE: TRIM = Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory.a. Variables only measured at baseline assessment. TABLE 2: Correlations of Major Study Variables (baseline 1234561. Vengefulness—2. Rumination.31—3. Suppression.20.62—4. Avoidance.38.39.37—5. Revenge.52.40.19.47—with life–.26–.38–.16–.20–.11—affectivity.33.47.34.28.17–.53— srangefrom86to90.Correlations�|.23|aresignificant, partialingvariancefromthesecorrelationsthatcouldbeattributedtoscoresonthesingle-itemratingofthehurt-fulnessoftheoffense.Evenaftercontrollingforscoresonthissingle-itemmeasureofhurtfulness,correlationsofresidualizedchangeinruminationandresidualizedchangeinavoidance,(53)=.41,.05,andrevenge,(53)=.21,&#x-305;&#x.600;.05,persistedwithonlysmalldeflationsinmagnitude(i.e.,5correlationpointsorless).Aswell,thecorrelationsofresidualizedchangeinsuppressionandresidualizedchangeinavoidance,(53)=.37,.05,andrevenge,(53)=.35,=.05,persistedwithpracticallynodeflationinmagnitude(i.e.,2correlationpointsorless).Thus,residualizedchangesinrumination,suppression,andforgivingcouldnotbeexplainedawayasaCorrelationswithresidualizedchangeinsatisfactionwith.Changeinforgivingwasvirtuallyuncorrelatedwithchangesinsatisfactionwithlifescoresovertime(s=–.04and–.13,s&#x-352;&#x.900;.05).Changesinsuppressionandruminationalsowerenotsignificantlycorrelatedwithchangesinsatisfactionwithlife,s(59)=–.17and–.19,respectively(s&#x-352;&#x.900;.05).Thus,peoplewhoruminatedless,suppressedless,andforgavemorethroughoutthe8-weekfollow-upperiodwerenomoreorlesslikelytoexperiInStudy1,weexaminedthecross-sectionalandlongitudinalassociationsofvengefulnesswithrumination,suppression,forgiving,andsubjectivewell-being,hypothesizingthatvengefulnessmaintainedruminaprocessesandinterferedwithforgivenessandsubjectivewell-beingfollowinganinterpersonaloffense.Cross-sectionalanalysesgenerallysupportedthesehypotheses.Aspredicted,vengefulpeoplereportedmoreintenseruminationabouttheoffense.Vengefulpeoplealsoreportedhavinghighermotivationstoavoidandseekrevengeagainsttheiroffenders.Aswell,peoplehighinvengefulnesstendedtobelesssatisfiedwiththeirlivesandhigherinnegativeaffectivity.Thesecross-sectionalfindingsarenotterriblysurprisingandcorroboratefind-ingsfromotherstudiesdemonstratingthatpeoplewithhighdegreesofvengefulnessaremorepronetonegativeVengefulnessalsopredictedthelongitudinaltrajec-toryofpeople’smotivationstoseekrevengeagainsttheiroffendersthroughoutthe8-weekfollow-upperiod.Inotherwords,vengefulpeoplewerenotonlymorevengefultowardtheiroffendersinacross-sectionalsensebuttheirmotivationstoseekrevengealsopersistedthroughoutthe8-weekfollow-upperiodtoagreaterextentthandidthoseoflessvengefulpeople.Thislongitudinallinkcouldnotbeexplainedawayasafunctionofnegativeaffectivity(seeBerkowitz,1990;Martin&Watson,1997),whichgivesusgreaterconfidencethatthevengefuldispositionpersemightactuallyexertacausalinfluenceonpeople’smotivationtoseekrevengeagainstpeoplewhoHowever,vengefulnesswasnotparticularlyusefulforpredictingthepersistenceofrespondents’motivationstoavoidtheiroffendersfollowingtheinterpersonaloffense.Becauseweoperationalizeforgivingasreductionsin(a)revengemotivationsand(b)avoidancemotivationsfollowinganinterpersonaloffense,thelongitudinalfindingsfromStudy1suggestthatvengefulnessmightberelevanttoonlyoneaspectofforgivingratherthantoboth.Thisdiscrepancylendscredencetorecenttheorizingthatthemotivationstoavoidandtoseek606PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETINTABLE 3: PredictingResidualizedChangeinFiveCriterionVariablesWithVengefulnessAfterControllingforNegativeAffectivity BSEStep 1: Negative affectivity.02.02.19.03.03Step 2: Vengefulness–.01.02–.10.04.01Step 1: Negative affectivity.02.02.13.02.02Step 2: Vengefulness.01.02.13.03.02Criterion: Change in TRIM-AvoidanceStep 1: Negative affectivity.03.02.25.06.06Step 2: Vengefulness.02.01.19.09.03Step 1: Negative affectivity.01.02.06.00.00Step 2: Vengefulness.05.01.50*.23*.23*Step 1: Negative affectivity–.03.02–.22.05.05Step 2: Vengefulness–.01.01–.12.06.01 NOTE:TRIM=Transgression-RelatedInterpersonalMotivationsInventory.TABLE 4: CorrelationsofResidualizedChangeinRumination,Suppression,ForgivenessScales,andSatisfactionWith ScaleRuminationSuppressionAvoidanceRevengeRumination—Suppression.57*—Avoidance.43*.35*—Revenge.26*.37*.34*—Satisfaction with life–.17–.19–.04–.13 NOTE:Ns range from 58 to 61.*p revengearegovernedbyindependentpsychologicalsysVengefulnessalsowasnotrelatedtolongitudinalchangeinruminationabouttheoffenseorattemptstosuppressthatrumination.Thus,despiteourhypotheses,wecannotexplainthevengefulness-forgivingrelationshipintermsofruminationandsuppression.Onepossiblealternativeexplanationthatdeservesgreaterattentionisthepossibilitythatthelinkofvengefulnesstointerpersonalforgivinghaslesstodowithlackofcontroloverruminativethoughtsthanitdoeswithprincipledmoralaction.Vengefulpeople’smotivationstoseeharmcometotheiroffendersmightnotbeduetoaninabilitytosuppressruminativethoughtseffectivelybutrathertoanabidingbeliefthatseekingvengeanceandharboringillwillisamorallycorrectresponsewhenonehasbeenoffendedbyanotherperson.Futureresearchshouldexaminethedistinctionbetweenthe“principledmoralaction”and“ineffectivesuppressionofruminativethoughts”interpretationsofthevengefulness-forgiveCORRELATIONS OF CHANGE IN RUMINATION,SATISFACTION WITH LIFEPeoplewhobecamemoreforgivingovertimealsobecamelessruminativeandsuppressive.Thesevariablesmightcovarybecauseruminationand/orsuppressioninterferewithforgiving,whichwouldsupportourtheo-reticalunderstandingoftheirrelationships.However,itispossiblethattheyarerelatedbecauseforgivingimpedesruminationandsuppression.Itisalsopossiblethatforgiving,rumination,andsuppressionhavereciprocalcausaleffects.Finally,theirrelationshipsmightbecausedbyunmeasuredvariables,renderingtheirassociationsspurious.Oursubsidiaryanalysesshowed,however,thattheassociationofchangeinrumination,suppression,andforgivingcouldnotbeexplainedawayasresultingfromthecommonimpactofoffenseseverity.Thenextstepforevaluatingwhetherruminationandsuppressionhavecausaleffectsonforgiving(orviceversa)wouldprobablybetoconductexperimentalThepresentresultscastdoubtonthehypothesisthatforgivingone’soffendershasabeneficialcausaleffectonsubjectivewell-being.Severalotherresearchers(e.g.,Subkoviaketal.,1995)havenotedcross-sectionalassociationsbetweenmeasuresofforgivenessandmeasuresofwell-being(e.g.,anxiety,depression,andself-esteem).However,wefoundnoevidencethatpeoplewhobecamemoreforgivingtowardtheiroffendersthroughoutthe8-weektimeperiodbecameanymore(oranyless)satisfiedwiththeirlivesthroughoutthe8-weektimeperiod.Giventhecurrententhusiasmaboutthepotentialmentalhealthbenefitsofforgiving,thisislikelytobethemostcontentiousfindingofthecurrentstudybecauseitcallsintoquestiontheimportanceofforgivingone’stransgressorsforpromotingorrestoringsubjectiveOfcourse,thepresentresultsdonotruleoutthepossibilitythatacausallinkbetweenforgivingandmentalhealthexists.Theydo,however,suggestthatsucharelationshipmightbemoredifficulttodetectthaniscommonlyassumed.Satisfactionwithlifewasverystableacrossthetwoassessments.Itstest-retestcorrelationwas(58)=.79,.001,indicatingthatpeople’ssatisfactionwithlifeisrelativelystableandperhapsnothighlylikelytobeinfluencedbyforgivingasingletransgressor.However,aggregatingmanymeasuresofforgivingacrossmanyinterpersonaloffensesmightrevealevidenceofasignificantcausaleffect(seeMcCullough,Hoyt,&Rachal,2000).Also,itispossiblethatthesalutaryeffectsofforgivingonmentalhealthcanonlybedetectedinthecontextofextremelysevere,potentiallylife-changinginterpersonaloffenses(e.g.,Coyle&Enright,1997;Freedman&Enright,1996).SuchquestionscanonlybeaddressedthroughmoreandbetterlongitudinalorAmajorlimitationofthepresentstudywasitssmallsamplesize,whichlimitedstatisticalpowerandprecisioninparameterestimates(Cohen,1988).Indeed,wefoundseveralassociationswithsmalltomediumeffectsizes(e.g.,correlationsontheorderof=.20)thatwecouldnotconcludeashavingbeenstatisticallydifferentfromzerowithaTypeIerrorrateof.05becauseoflowstatisticalpower.Asecondlimitationwasitsexclusiverelianceonundergraduatestudents,whoseexperienceswithvengeance,interpersonaloffenses,andforgivingmightdifferfromthoseofthegeneralpopulation.FurtherstudiesshouldattempttoreplicatethesefindingsAsmentionedabove,theassociationofvengefulnessandthetrajectoryofpeople’smotivationstoseekrevengeagainsttheiroffenderscouldnotbeexplainedawayasafunctionofnegativeaffectivity(cf.Berkowitz,1990;Martin&Watson,1997),suggestingthatvengefulnessmightexertacausalinfluenceonthetrajectoryofforgivenessovertime.However,manyquestionsaboutthevengefulnessconstructremained,especiallyitsassociationtootherpersonalitytraits.WewereparticularlyinterestedintheassociationsofvengefulnesswiththeBigFivefactors(Openness,Conscientiousness,Extraversion,Agreeableness,andNeuroticism).Toinvestigatetheseissues,weconductedasecondstudy.WehypothesizedthatvengefulnesswouldbecorrelatedposMcCullough et al. / VENGEFULNESS AND FORGIVENESS607 itivelywithNeuroticismandnegativelywithAgreeablePARTICIPANTSParticipantswere192undergraduatestudentsatIowaStateUniversity.ParticipantsreceivedasmallamountofVengefulness.Participantscompletedthe7-itemversionofMaugeretal.’s(1991)scalethatweusedinStudy1.TheBigFive.TheBigFivepersonalityfactorsweremeasuredwithJohn,Donahue,andKentle’s(1991)BigFiveInventory(BFI).TheBFIuses44prototypicalmarkersoftheBigFivedimensions.TheitemsonthefivescalesoftheBFIareratedona5-pointscale(1=disagreestronglyagreestrongly)andthenaresummedandaveragedtoderivethefivescalescores.TheBFIsubscalesmanifestconsiderableconvergentanddiscriminantvalidity.Internalconsistenciestypicallyexceed.75forallfivescales,and3-monthtest-retestreliabilitiestypicallyStudentscompletedavarietyofself-reportinstru-mentsduringseveralcomputer-administeredassess-mentsessionsspacedatapproximatelyequalintervalsthroughoutthesemester.Participants’responsestoeachitemwereautomaticallysavedintoacomputerfile.Duringoneofthesecomputer-assistedassessmentsessions,participantscompletedboththevengefulnessmeasureMeans,standarddeviations,internalconsistencyreliabilities,andcorrelationsofthemajorstudyvariablesappear in Table 5.CORRELATIONAL AND MULTIPLEREGRESSION ANALYSESAscanbeseeninTable5,vengefulnesswascorrelatedsignificantlywiththreeoftheBigFivescales.VengefulnesswascorrelatednegativelywithConscientiousness,(192)=–.24,.05,negativelywithAgreeableness,(192)=.05,andpositivelywithNeuroticism,(192)=.05.ThecorrelationsofvengefulnesswithOpennessandExtraversionwerenotsignificant,s(192)=–.07and .00, respectively,Second,weconductedasimultaneousmultipleregressionanalysisinwhichtheBigFivewereusedtopredictvengefulness(seeTable6).ThesetofBigFivevariablesexplained30%ofthevarianceinvengefulness,(5,186)=.30,.05.Agreeablenesspredicteduniquevarianceinvengefulness(=–.39,.05),asdidInStudy2,wehypothesizedthatvengefulnesswouldberelatedtotheAgreeablenessandNeuroticismdimensionsoftheBigFive.Bothofthesehypotheseswereconfirmed.ThecorrelationofNeuroticismandvengefulnesswas=.36,whichissimilarinmagnitudetothecorrelationof=.33thatweobtainedforthevengefulness-negativeaffectivityrelationshipinStudy1.GiventhefactthatnegativeaffectivityandNeuroticismareconstructswithconsiderableconceptualandempiricalsimilarity(Clark&Watson,1999;Watsonetal.,1999),thepresentstudiessuggestthattheassociationofvengefulnesswithNeuroticismand/orthetendencytoexperiencenegativeaffectisareliableone.Moreover,thisfindingmergeswellwithotherresearchdemonstratingtheassociationsamongnegativeaffectivity,anger,andaggression(e.g.,Berkowitz,1990;Martin&Watson,VengefulnesswasnegativelyassociatedwithAgreeableness.Peoplewhotendtoendorsevengefulattitudesandreporttheuseofvengeanceasaproblem-solvingstrategywereconsiderablylessagreeablethanothers(608PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETINTABLE 5: Means,StandardDeviations,InternalConsistencies,andCorrelations of Major Variables (Study 2)Correlations VariableMSD123451. Vengefulness3.311.26.86—2. Openness3.790.59.80–.07—3. Conscientiousness3.630.61.79–.24.04—4. Extraversion3.430.81.86.00.23.18—5. Agreeableness3.790.65.81–.49.14.32.10—6. Neuroticism3.150.83.85.36–.16–.17–.23–.36 �NOTE: Correlations |.14| are significant,p TABLE 6: ResultsofSimultaneousMultipleRegressionoftheBigFive on Vengefulness Predictor VariableBSEOpenness.00.14.00Conscientiousness–.19.14–.09Extraversion.17.10.11Agreeableness–.76.13–.39*Neuroticism.35.10.23* *p –.49).TherelationshipbetweenvengefulnessandAgreeablenessfitswellwithrecentconceptualizations(i.e.,Grazianoetal.,1996)ofAgreeablenessasatraitthathelpspeoplemanagetheirinterpersonalfrustrationsandangereffectively.Together,AgreeablenessandNeuroticismexplainedanappreciableamountofvarianceinvengefulness(i.e.,30%),butbynomeansdidtheyexplainthelion’sshare.Indeed,animportantmessagefromStudy2isthatvengefulness,aswemeasuredit,isnotreducibletoalinearcompositeoftheBigFivepersonalitytraits.Thissuggests,ononehand,thatotherpersonalitytraitsandtaxonomiesmightbeinvokedtoexplainadditionalvarianceinvengefulness.Ontheotherhand,thesefindingsprovideevidencethatvengefulnessmightmeritattentiononitsowntermsandnotTodate,considerationsofpersonalityanddispositionhavenotbeenwellintegratedintotheorizingaboutforgiveness(Emmons,inpress).Thepresentsetofstudieshelpstoamelioratethisdeficitinforgivenesstheorybyexploringthedynamicsofvengefulnessanditsrelation-Vengefulnessisatraitthatcomprises(a)beliefsandattitudesaboutthemoralityordesirabilityofvengefulactionsforattainingcertaingoals(e.g.,restoringthemoralbalance,teachinganoffenderalesson,savingface)and(b)self-reporteduseofvengeanceasaninter-personalproblem-solvingstrategy.Wefoundevidencethatvengefulnessplayedanimportantroleinforgiving.Vengefulpeoplearenotonlylessforgivingandmoreruminativecross-sectionallybutalsomaintaintheirmotivationstoseekrevengeagainsttheiroffenderovertimetoagreaterextentthandopeoplewhoarelessvengeful.Thislongitudinallinkcouldnotbeexplainedawayasafunctionofnegativeaffectivity,givingusgreaterconfidencethatthevengefuldispositionpersemightbehelpfulforunderstandingthetrajectoryofinterpersonalforgiving.Inaddition,becausechangesinforgivenessovertimewereinverselyrelatedtochangesinruminationandsuppressionovertime,ruminationandsuppressionmightbeimportantsocial-cognitivefactorstointegrateintoforgivenesstheoryandexplorefurtherBecausetheslowdecayofvengefulpeople’srevengemotivationstowardtheirinterpersonaloffenderscouldnotbeexplainedasafunctionofchangesinruminationorsuppression,weareleftwithoutanempiricallybasedexplanationforthelinkbetweenvengefulnessandthepersistenceofrevengemotivations.Itispossiblethatvengefulpeopledonotmaintaintheirdesireforrevengebyruminatingbutratheroutofprincipledmoralreasoningthatconvincesthemthatseekingrevengeisamorallyjustifiableresponsetohavingbeeninjuredbyanotherperson.Determiningwhethervengefulpeoplepersistintheirdesireforrevengeovertimeisduetorumination,aconvictionthatmaintainingamotivationtoseekrevengeisamoralcourseofaction,orsomeothermechVengefulnessalsoispositivelyrelatedtonegativeaffectivity/NeuroticismandnegativelyrelatedtoAgreeablenessandsatisfactionwithlife.Thus,vengefulpeopletendtoexperiencegreaterlevelsofnegativeaffect,lowerlevelsoflifesatisfaction,andperhaps,difficultymaintainingharmoniousinterpersonalrelationships.AlthoughpersonalitytaxonomiessuchastheBigFivetaxonomyhelptocharacterizethenatureandstructureofvengefulness,vengefulnessdoesnotappeartobereducibletoalinearcombinationoftheBigFive.Therefore,itseemsworthwhiletocontinueexploring,onitsownterms,theinfluenceofvengefulnessoninterpersonalforgiving.Atthesametime,however,attemptstoarticulatethelinksofvengefulnesstootherpersonalityAsresearchonforgivingbuilds,itwillbeimportanttodeveloptheoreticalmodelsthataddressthebroadrangeofsocial,social-cognitive,anddispositionalfactorsthatinfluencethecapacitytoforgive(seeMcCullough,Pargament,&Thoresen,2000).Thepresentresearchyieldedseveralfindingsthatshouldbeaddedintocon-ceptualizationsofforgiving.First,vengefulness,whichisrelatedtohighnegativeaffectivity,highNeuroticism,lowAgreeableness,andlowsatisfactionwithlife,shouldbeconsideredaproximalinfluenceonthelongitudinalcourseofforgivingacrosstime.Second,ruminatingaboutanoffenseandattemptstosuppressthatruminationappeartoberelatedovertimetochangesinforgiving.Third,ifforgivinghasalongitudinaleffectinpromotingsubjectivewell-being,itisperhapsmoreelusivethansomeresearchersmighthaveinitiallysupposed.IntegratingtheseconsiderationsintofutureworkonforgivenesswillincreasethecomplexityofexistingtheoreticalaccountsandmighthelpultimatelytoimproveourunderstandingofthisinterestingandimportantinterAllison, P. 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