Effectiveness of a process-based forgiveness intervention in reducing revenge and avoidance motivations among middle school male students

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a process-based forgiveness intervention in group format in reducing revenge and avoidance motivations among middle school male students. The research was an experimental one with a pre-test, post–test and a control group design. Participants were 30 middle school male students who scored high on Transgression Related Interpersonal Motivations inventory, being recruited through convenience sampling, and were randomly assigned to two experimental and control group. The research instrument was Transgression Related Interpersonal Motivations (TRIM-12) and was administered on both groups at pretest and posttest. The forgiveness intervention protocol consisted of twelve 1 hour group session based on Enright forgiveness intervention model and implemented twice per week. The data were analyzed using ANCOVA. Statistical analysis showed that compared to the control group, revenge and avoidance motivations in experimental group significantly decreased. The findings of this study revealed that forgiveness intervention can be used effectively in school setting for adolescent populations.