The Study of Structural Relationship among Forgiveness, Life Satisfaction, and General Health in Students

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of forgiveness on general health through life satisfaction in students.
The study was based on the causal correlation method, and the statistical population consisted of all the students of Payam Nour and Azad University of Lamerd in the second semester of the academic year 2013-2014. The sample of the study consisted of 166 (99 male and 67 female) students which were selected by multistage random sampling. Data collection tools were Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Structural equation modeling (SEM) through AMOS-16 and SPSS-16 software packages was used for data analysis.
Analysis of structural equation modeling indicated that the default model of effect of forgiveness on general health through life satisfaction fit the data. Further analysis revealed that forgiveness had indirect and direct significant relationship with general health through life satisfaction.
Based on the results, it can be said that people bring themselves feelings of satisfaction and happiness and reduce their physical and mental problems and discomforts by forgiving their own mistakes and those of others.