Everett L. Worthington

Virginia Commonwealth University | VCU · Department of Psychology

Although numerous self-report measures of humility have been developed, no behavioral measure has been scientifically vetted. We examined partner-rated relational humility and coded behaviors indicating state humility in couples (N = 69) transitioning to parenthood. Observed state humility behaviors were coded by examining video-recorded problem-fo...

The present study examined the effectiveness of a brief self-directed secular REACH Forgiveness workbook in improving state forgiveness, state hope, mental health, and flourishing among Indonesian Christians. A subset of data (all self-identified Christians; N = 203; Mage = 21.17 ± 3.28 years, female = 75.86%, 78.33% college students) from a large,...

Within the current Zeitgeist, the language of trauma is ubiquitous. This special issue brings the psychological treatment of trauma and Indigenous (e.g., cultural, religious) healing frameworks into conversation, rather than privileging one over the other. The included studies engage an intersubjective understanding of trauma impacts. They do not a...

Many interventions help people who have experienced potentially traumatic events to reduce any symptoms. Most existing treatments are secular and are often not accepted in explicitly Christian communities worldwide. Nigerian Christians (N = 200) participated in a randomized controlled field trial of the explicitly Christian group-based curriculum,...

Many people worldwide seek healing for trauma symptoms in a Christian context. American Bible Society developed a 17-item, three-subscale measure (i.e., Trauma Healing Index, Coping Index, and Religious Engagement Index), entitled the Trauma Healing Institute–Impact Survey (THI-IS). We investigated its psychometric properties in three cross-section...

The REACH Forgiveness intervention has been shown to promote forgiveness. However, most of the studies have involved college students. Whereas studies have shown that Christian-accommodated REACH Forgiveness has been effective with Christians, few studies have examined whether a secular version of REACH Forgiveness might promote forgiveness for Chr...

The present study focused on the roles of self-forgiveness and feeling divine forgiveness in mitigating the adverse effects of stress on substance use cravings in Trinidad and Tobago. We assessed 869 individuals (62 percent of whom were women) through self-report online questionnaires. A moderation analysis using the PROCESS macro and a bootstrappi...

Much attention has been devoted to the effectiveness of forgiveness interventions in children and adolescents featuring two premier programs by Enright and his colleagues. Little attention has been given to psychoeducational forgiveness interventions with emerging adults. This is a narrative review of REACH Forgiveness studies with emerging adults...

Critiques of positive psychology, as summarized by Van Zyl et al. in J Posit Psychol, 2023, have claimed that positive psychology (1) lacks proper theorizing; (2) over-relies on quantitative designs; (3) is poorly supported empirically with non-replicated studies; (4) lacks novelty and is isolated from mainstream psychology; (5) represents de-conte...

Despite theory suggesting that self‐forgiveness facilitates recovery from moral injury, no measure of self‐forgiveness has been validated with individuals exposed to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs). Military veterans, healthcare workers, and first responders who reported PMIE exposure ( n = 924) completed the Self‐Forgiveness Dual‐Proc...

In this narrative review, the effectiveness of the REACH Forgiveness psychoeducational group intervention is examined. REACH is an acronym to cue memory for steps in emotional forgiveness: R = recall the hurt; E = empathize; A = altruistic gift of forgiveness; C = commit to forgiveness experienced; H = hold onto forgiveness. Overall, 24 studies tha...

Objectives To determine whether a brief self-directed forgiveness workbook intervention could alter forgiveness, depression symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. Design A multisite randomised waitlist-controlled trial was conducted among 4598 participants. Recruitment occurred from 11 February 2020 to 30 September 2021. Final follow-up occurred on 25 Oc...

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a forgiveness public health intervention at promoting forgiveness, mental health, and flourishing. Methods: Colombian students (N = 2,878) at a private, nonreligious university were exposed to a 4-week forgiveness community campaign and were assessed pre- and post-campaign. Results: Forgiveness, mental h...

A Spiritual Renaissance of Psychological Science has arrived: an explosion of rigorously derived, foundationally new models of human experience. The collective vision of psychological science in the second edition of the OUP Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality advances psychological research beyond 20th-century radical materialism and mechanism...

How children experience forgiveness within peer relationships is unknown among children in West Africa. In this study, we sought to understand the contributing factors and influences of forgiveness among children in Ghana for peer-to-peer offenses. We conducted a qualitative study on 25 participants (between the ages of 12 and 15 years) in Accra, G...

Importance: Forgiveness interventions have been shown in prior randomized trials to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms. Most such interventions require trained therapists, limiting scalability. Objective: To determine whether a brief self-directed forgiveness workbook intervention could alter forgiveness, depression symptoms, and anxiety sympto...

We respond to Ballantyne’s feature article on intellectual humility from the viewpoint of being interventionists in psychology (Worthington) and political science (Garrett). Philosophers differ from interventionists in discipline, method, and goals. While, philosophers usually seek to describe what is true as uncovered by the methods of analytic (o...

This study aimed to revise and test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Decisional and Emotional Forgiveness Scale. In experiment 1, 1171 college students and postgraduates were invited to complete the questionnaire that provides the data for this scale. The results from this, following exploratory factor analysis, showed tha...

Interpersonal transgressions threaten victims, offenders, and their relationships, often leading the parties to ruminate about the wrongdoing, not only individually but also together, in acts of co‐rumination. We investigate how two forms of co‐rumination—co‐reflection and co‐brooding—influence, or are influenced by, individual rumination and victi...

Trauma healing is complex and individual. The internal experience of forgiveness can help heal traumas that have been experienced both individually and within a society because it (1) signals some perception of trustworthiness; (2) creates a desire to reconcile (though the person might not act on the desire), and (3) is perceived. Forgiveness can t...

Trauma healing is complex and individual. The internal experience of forgiveness can help heal traumas that have been experienced both individually and within a society because it (1) signals some perception of trustworthiness; (2) creates a desire to reconcile (though the person might not act on the desire), and (3) is perceived. Forgiveness can t...

In this prospective study of US adults with chronic illness (n = 302), we examined the associations of subjective suffering and religious/spiritual (R/S) resources (i.e., religious coping, religious commitment, and spiritual fortitude) with the subsequent experience of R/S struggles. Using a rigorous analytic approach that involved adjusting for nu...

In this chapter, we examine the association between forgiveness and flourishing. We begin by identifying what forgiveness and flourishing are. We then move to considering conceptual models as well as evidence supporting the connection between forgiveness and flourishing. An early model of the forgiveness and mental health relationship offers a begi...

Research has shown that people sometimes report self-perceived growth as a result of dealing with a potentially traumatic event, but relatively few methodologically rigorous studies have examined whether perceived posttraumatic growth is associated with improved subsequent well-being across a wide range of outcomes. In this three-wave longitudinal...

Many studies have reported evidence suggesting that dispositional forgivingness has positive implications for different domains of well-being. However, relatively few methodologically rigorous studies have been conducted in the Global South, particularly in post-conflict settings where forgiveness could play an important role in supporting individu...

Research suggests that interpersonal forgiveness is beneficial to individual functioning, but few longitudinal studies have explored the independent contributions of decisional and emotional forgiveness to reducing different forms of distress and improving multidimensional well-being. In this three-wave (T1: December 2020; T2: January 2021; T3: Feb...

The development and delivery of religiously integrated health interventions is increasing, however lack of nomenclature to specify the religious components presents barriers to replication, implementation, and evidence synthesis. We describe the development of the “Religious Health Interventions in Behavioural Sciences (RHIBS)” Taxonomy, the first...

Forgiveness is a positive method of dealing with an offense that includes a decisional and an emotional phase. How these two types of forgiveness interact in the forgiveness process remains unclear. In this longitudinal study we focused on decisional forgiveness. We provided evidence of how decisional forgiveness occurs over time; whether it is a d...

Spiritually incorporating couple therapy (SICT)-couple therapy that incorporates spiritual interventions-has a growing research base. Information is limited on how spiritual interventions are used in practice; thus we studied treatment-as-usual (TAU). SICT is treatment that, at a couple's request, sometimes draws upon spiritual resources when addre...

Hope has been conceptualized as agency and pathways to achieve goals. However, this goal-directed conceptualization does not encapsulate all situations in which hope may be beneficial. To address the dispositional motivation to endure when a desired goal seems unattainable, unlikely, or even impossible (i.e., goal-transcendent hope), we provide ini...

An inadvertent consequence of advances in stem cell research, neuroscience, and resuscitation science has been to enable scientific insights regarding what happens to the human brain in relation to death. The scientific exploration of death is in large part possible due to the recognition that brain cells are more resilient to the effects of anoxia...

This handbook aims to bridge the gap between the fields of positive psychology and the psychology of religion and spirituality. It is the authoritative guide to the intersections among religion, spirituality, and positive psychology and includes the following sections: (1) historical and theoretical considerations, (2) methodological considerations...

We provide an overview of the science on forgiveness and mental health. We define forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness, summarize a brief history of the science of forgiveness, and review the theory, measurement, and evidence on forgiveness and mental health connections. We suggest that stress-and-coping theories of forgiveness of others and...

Hope focused couple therapy (HFCT) is often spiritually integrated treatment using forgiveness, prayer, sanctification themes, and relational virtues as mechanisms for change. Building on earlier work examining the effects of HFCT, this clinical field study of couple therapy examined trends and predictors of relational outcomes. Couples (N = 236; N...

The COVID-19 pandemic and its sequelae have had significant consequences for many people around the world, precipitating loss of resources in various domains. To date, few studies have reported on how resource loss during the public health crisis has contributed to subjective experiences of suffering, especially among vulnerable populations. Using...

In Ghana, collectivism holds people together in marital relationships, even if partners are religiously different. Married partners still hurt, betray, or offend each other and might develop avoidance or vengeful (i.e., unforgiving) motives. We investigated whether religious homogamy moderated connections of personality and marriage variables to un...

This book explores the implications for psychiatric practice of virtues shown to foster self-control, benevolence, intelligence, and positivity, roughly corresponding to the four cardinal virtues of Plato and Aquinas. Chapter authors highlight the psychotherapeutic relevance of virtues of self-control (accountability, humility, and equanimity), ben...

Spiritual bypassing is the propensity to avoid emotional discomfort and pain through exercising spiritual beliefs and practices. The Spiritual Bypass Scale-13 (SBS-13) was developed to assess the two major components of spiritual bypassing – avoidance and spiritualising. The purpose of this study was to translate the SBS-13 into Korean and examine...

A growing body of research is emerging on the role of adaptive resources and processes that support positive transformation in the aftermath of adversity. However, few studies in this strand have focused on people who have had prolonged exposure to a complex climate of trauma through long-term civil war. This study examined wisdom as a process by w...

Religious coping has emerged as a guiding paradigm for understanding ways in which religion shapes how people adapt to life’s most difficult experiences. Although research on religious coping has advanced substantially over the last two decades, there has been a disproportionate focus on noninterpersonal stressors with samples from predominantly We...

There are two parts to this present article. First, I consider the applied problem of assessing changes in a congregation—how often to assess, why assess, what changes are looked for, what interventions are assessed, why look to the components of interventions, and how to avoid problems interpreting your data. Brief assessments are mandatory. Pasto...

Positive psychology has accumulated a large and ever-growing body of scientific knowledge about human strengths and virtues. However, research on positive psychology interventions (PPIs) to develop such is still in its infancy. In this brief position paper, we summarize the status of PPIs in one of the positive psychology’s most important virtues:...

There is high prevalence of depression among people with Chronic Illness and Disease (CID). Positive psychology (PP) and rehabilitation psychology (RP) aim to optimize functioning and wellness. PP focuses on the potential for “good” of the human nature. Lately, PP has supplemented RP in individuals with CID. RP practitioners would benefit from iden...

People who experience a chronic illness or disability (CID) will have to go through a process of psychosocial adaptation. The disability or illness becomes a part of their community, social, and civic life. Religion (a type of coping) and spirituality (a subcomponent of subjective well-being) are considered important toward achieving the optimal st...

More than twenty different models of how forgiveness occurs have been proposed within forgiveness literature. One idea highlighted in many of these models was that forgiveness entails, at some point, a decision to forgive the offender. The Decision to Forgive Scale (DTFS) is a 5-item measure that allows the assessment of this construct. The aim of...

Objective: This study tested three conceptual explanatory models that have been theorized to account for the linkages between religious/spiritual (R/S) struggles and psychological distress: the primary model (i.e., R/S struggles lead to psychological distress), the secondary model (i.e., psychological distress leads to R/S struggles), and the comp...

Suffering has been a topic of considerable discussion in the fields of medicine and palliative care, yet few studies have reported causal evidence linking the experience of suffering to health and well-being. In this three-wave prospective cohort study, we explore the potential psychological implications of suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic by...

Objective: This prospective longitudinal study examined whether coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to changes in psychological and spiritual outcomes among adults with chronic disease. Method: Participants (N = 302) were a stratified, nonrandom sample of adults (Mage = 64.46, SD = 10.86, 45.7% female). The sample was representative of the...

Introduction: The present study examined psychometric properties of the Korean version of the

Previous research finds an association between spirituality and subjective well-being. However, the widespread use of poorly defined concepts of spirituality, tautological spirituality scales, and heavy reliance on cross-sectional samples cast doubts on prior findings. Here, we leverage ten waves of panel data from a nationally diverse longitudinal...

Several studies have suggested that self-forgiveness promotes psychological well-being. The state self-forgiveness scale (SSFS) and the differentiated self-forgiveness process scale (DSFPS) are two self-report questionnaires that assess self-forgiveness in psychotherapy, personal change, and health. The present study aims to examine the psychometri...

Religious people often seek help for mental health problems from their religious leaders. Yet, some religious leaders may not easily trust the mental health system. In this study, we employed latent profile analysis to explore differences in religious leader’s worldviews and how they relate to attitudes toward psychological science (N = 401). We pu...

The rise of Chronic Illness and Disease (CID) globally and the increase in lifespan/survival rates among those with CID have boosted the interest on how coping, a psychosocial construct, influences rehabilitation. A relationship between coping and psychosocial adjustment has been repeatedly confirmed. Religious coping (RC), a specific emotion-focus...

Depression is a common psychological experience for those living with a chronic illness and disease (CID). Social support (SS) can influence psychological health by regulating emotional functioning. The functional domain of SS refers to supportive exchange, including the emotional and instrumental functions. Public health measures during the COVID-...

En los contextos de acoso y ciberacoso escolar, estudios teóricos y empíricos sugieren que el perdón podría ser un recurso efectivo para mejorar la salud mental de los adolescentes que han sufrido este tipo de fenómenos, y, a su vez, reducir el riesgo de desarrollar conductas violetas como, por ejemplo, que las víctimas se conviertan en agresores....

This study examined the clinical effects of a brief group experiential therapy treatment centered on psychodrama in a sample of military veterans. The sample (N = 72) comprised male (n = 54) and female (n = 18) United States military veterans (Mage = 44.19, SDage = 12.51) who completed the six-day treatment. Self-reported military-related posttraum...

Multiculturalism, social justice, and peace are important aspects of the Christian faith. However, scholars in the literature seeking to integrate psychology and Christian theology have underrepresented them. In this present article, we review barriers to including them in our psychology–theology integration literature. Thereafter, we provide a tri...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly-discovered coronavirus. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover. However, people with chronic diseases are at increased risk of severe health complications. Chronic Illness and Disability (CID) des...

It has been argued that church attendance benefits mental health by buffering against stress. However, underlying mechanisms are debated and longitudinal evidence is scarce. We use eight years of longitudinal population-representative data from New Zealand to test whether consistent church attendance translates into sustained reductions in distress...