Running head FORGIVENESS IN RELATION TO BLOOD PRESSURE

Health Advantages for Forgiveness: A Measurement of Mean Arterial Pressure and Systolic

Blood Pressure before, during, and after recall of a betrayal event

Kieran Saienni

Randolph College
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Health Advantages for Forgiveness: A Measurement of Mean Arterial Pressure and Systolic

Blood Pressure before, during, and after recall of a betrayal event

One of the inevitable events that will occur over the course a human beings lifetime is

experiencing the feeling of being betrayed by a friend or loved one. In order to move past this

feeling of betrayal it is necessary to forgive. Edmonson et al. (2005) defined forgiveness as a

cognitive, emotional, and behavioral response to conflict between people, as well as influencing

both mental and physical aspects of ones health. Edmonson et al. (2005) also expresses that

forgiveness is associated with a decrease in negative affect in relation to the one responsible for

the betrayal. The victim from the event dismisses any thoughts of revenge and begins to feel less

hostile, angry, or even upset about the entire experience. The idea that forgiveness is defined as

the release of hostility towards another, is in agreement with the claim by Lawler et al. (2003)

that philosophical writings asserting forgiveness is composed of an increase in level of

compassion, and decrease in negative affect or behavior toward the offender.

Not everyone is able, or willing, to forgive another for betrayal however. Unfortunately,

emotions such as anger and hostility that are held on to have been connected to poor health and

the development of cardiovascular disease from an increase in sympathetic nervous system

reactivity to stress. This is most likely caused by the buildup anger and hostility over time

(Lawler et al., 2003). If there is, in fact, a cause and effect relationship for forgiveness and

health, then a decrease in anger, anxiety, and depression may be an explanation for the way

forgiveness operates on the body (Edmonson et al., 2005).

Just as not everyone is willing to forgive someone who they feel has wronged them

immediately, some feel that there is no choice but to forgive. When people feel essentially

ordered to forgive another, by a supervisor in the workplace for example, we cannot make the
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assumption that forgiveness based on obedience by itself will have the same effect on the

feelings of anger as forgiveness based on purely personal moral values does (Enright, & Huang,

2000). Gaining an advanced understanding of what forgiveness is, however, does not make it

easier to forgive. In Taiwan, Enright and Huang (2000) examined a group of people who all had

acquired a rather advanced understanding of forgiveness and a group with a less advanced

understanding of the concept. Those with an in depth understanding of forgiveness, were less

likely to truly forgive another if a supervisor ordered it to be done. This results in pent up

residual anger, frustration, and resentment. Enright and Huang (2000) found that when someone

is able to forgive, even when not forced to, because of personal feeling that it is the right thing to

do had the opposite had no buildup of residual anger or resentment. When people see forgiveness

not as something that is forced, but as something that is the right thing to do, they tend to have a

higher likelihood of a healthy cardiovascular system, and most likely would score higher on a

scale for state forgiveness.

State forgiveness refers to the state that one might be in at a given time that would cause

them to be more forgiving. Lawler et al. (2005) associated state forgiveness with diastolic blood

pressure in men. Lawler et al (2003) also found a lower level of state forgiveness was associated

with greater sustained diastolic reactivity during an interview. A similar result was found with a

failure to lower reactivity as time passes for mean arterial pressure (MAP), especially for those

with a less forgiving personality. Lawler et al. (2003) found that a forgiving personality was

connected to a greater ability to let go of the negative experience in a physiological sense,

meaning the experience of greater diastolic and mean arterial pressures. It was also found by

Lawler et al. (2003) that a forgiving personality has a direct relationship with systolic reactivity

in women, and to mean arterial reactivity for men and women both. A failure to forgive,
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especially when less forgiving on a regular basis, is associated with a greater sustained period of

cardiovascular reactivity. While the conflict experience is being retold and is carried into the

recovery period by those with low state forgiveness (Lawler et al., 2003). Although similar, state

forgiveness and a forgiving personality are not the same. One with a forgiving personality is said

to have a high level of trait forgiveness.

Having a forgiving personality, or high level of trait forgiveness, may impact the body by

reducing negative affect. This is accomplished by maintaining social harmony when confronted

with interpersonal conflict, as well as decreasing the occurrence and impact of stress (Edmonson

et al., 2005). Fincham, May, and Sanchez-Gonzalez (2015) found that greater trait forgiveness

was associated with more efficient cardiovascular functioning as well as being a predictor for

lower mean arterial pressure. Lawler et al. (2003) found trait forgiveness was related to a lower

blood pressure, especially with diastolic blood pressure. Trait forgiveness is not the only factor in

forgiveness and blood pressure however, an average on state forgiveness also was connected to

lower blood pressure and heart rate.

When couples were interviewed about a betrayal experience, those more securely

attached to their significant other showed a lower systolic blood pressure during and after the

interview, as well as a faster recovery for diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure

compared to those with a less secure attachment (Lawler-Row, Younger, Piferi, & Jones, 2006).

Lawler-Row et al. (2006) suggests that characteristics associated with the more securely attached

could better prepare them for the process of forgiveness to further stabilize the relationship.

Although Lawler-Row et al. (2006) found significant data supporting an arousal from the act of

talking about a betrayal event, most of the cardiovascular differences were primarily found in

recovery instead of during recall.

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It may be that forgiveness operates on the body through a significant reduction of

negative emotions including tension or anger by reducing stressful experiences. Furthermore,

forgiveness has been shown to affect the cardiovascular both in re-experiencing interpersonal

conflict and the time it takes to recover from such an experience.

Although there has been thorough research for effects of forgiveness on health, not

enough has been done on how different types of betrayal influence forgiveness and effects on

physical health. The purpose of the present study is to observe any influences different types of

betrayal may have on the effects of forgiveness on physical health. When measuring physical

arousal before, during, and after verbal recall of a betrayal event by either a friend or romantic

partner, systolic blood pressure will be highest during the verbal recall condition compared to

either the resting or recovery conditions. When examining sex and type of betrayal, a

measurement of mean arterial pressure will be greater for romantic betrayals than friend

betrayals.

Methods

Participants

The sample for the present study was made up of students who have been enrolled in the

Psychology 229L course at Randolph College. The total sample size of 56 participants,

consisting of 23 men and 33 women participants. Participants were compensated for partaking in

the present study with their participation grade for the Psychology 229L course.

Instruments

Materials used in the present study included a comfortable chair for the participant to sit,

an Omron wrist blood pressure cuff, and a stop watch to keep track of time. The scales used to

measure trait and state forgiveness were the TRIM and FPI scales.
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The Transgression-related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory (TRIM; McCullough et

al., 1998) measured state forgiveness once the interview on a betrayal event was completed. The

TRIM included 12 items, answered and scored on a 1-5 Likert scale ranging from strongly

disagree to strongly agree and consisted of two subscales, Revenge and Avoidance. A sample

item from the scale included I want to see him/her hurt and miserable (McCullogh et al.,

1998). The TRIM scale had a good convergent and discriminant validity (Edmonson et al.,

2005).

The Forgiving Personality Inventory (FPI; Jones et al., 2002) measured trait forgiveness.

It was also administered as soon as the participant had finished the interview on the betrayal

event. The FPI consisted of 33 items, including I dont believe in second chances (Jones et al.,

2002) where participants were to respond on a 5-point Likert scale from strongly disagree to

strongly agree. The scale has shown a high reliability with a coefficient alpha of 0.93, mean

inter-item correlation of 0.30, and test-retest correlation of 0.79 over a 2-month interval. Validity

of the scale has been determined from correlations with other dispositional measures of

forgiveness (Edmonson et al., 2005).

Procedure

Participants were directed to enter the testing room and sit in a comfortable chair. They

were then instructed to sit and relax for a period of one minute. After one minute had passed of

relaxation the participant was instructed to raise a random hand to their chest and we took a

resting blood pressure and heart rate as a baseline for the chosen arm. Once the baseline had been

taken the participants were instructed to recall a time when they were betrayed by either a friend

or romantic partner and directed to indicate when they were ready to begin talking about it. The

time was recorded as soon as the participant began talking about their specific betrayal. The
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participants blood pressure and heartrate were also measured and recorded as the they began to

talk about their betrayal event. Blood pressure and heart rate were taken again one minute into

recall. The participant was instructed to continue talking about when they had been betrayed and

a third measure of blood pressure and heart rate were taken after two minutes; the time was

recorded concluding the recall. Participants were directed to leave the testing room and complete

the TRIM (State Forgiveness) scale related to the event they had recalled. Upon completion of

the TRIM scale, the participant was instructed to then complete the Forgiving Personality

Inventory (Trait Forgiveness) scale. Once both scales were filled out the participant was

informed they had finished and were free to go.

Results

We conducted a 2(sex) x 2(type) between groups ANOVA to test the effect on mean

arterial pressure (MAP) during a betrayal interview. There was no significant main effect for sex,

F (1,52) = .28, p = .59. Men (M = 100.61, SD = 13.31) and women (M = 97.15, SD = 19.07) did

not differ in MAP. In addition, there was no significant main effect for type of betrayal,

F (1,52) = 1.01. Participants recalling a friend betrayal (M = 96.77, SD = 14.12) did not differ in

MAP compared to those recalling a romantic partner betrayal (M = 99.65, SD = 22.39. There was

not a significant interaction between sex and type of betrayal, F (1,52) = 1.25, p = .268.

Using a One-Way Repeated Measures ANOVA, we found significant differences in

systolic blood pressure among the three conditions, F (1,54) = 16.38, p < 0.1, 2 = .230. Post hoc

analysis illustrated that systolic blood pressure for test 1 (M = 126.94, SD = 19.73, n = 56) was

higher than both rest (p < .001), (M = 118.37, SD = 13.97, n = 56) and recovery (p < .001)

conditions, (M = 118.50, SD = 112.86, n = 56). There were no other interactions between the

three conditions.
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Discussion

We analyzed the data, comparing mean arterial pressure for sex and type of betrayal. No

significant differences were found in either of the conditions. This finding does not support the

hypothesis that there will be a higher mean arterial pressure during recall for betrayal from a

romantic partner than for a friend. We also analyzed systolic blood pressure, measuring at rest,

one minute into recall, and one minute after recall during recovery. It was found that systolic

blood pressure was significantly higher during recall than for the resting and recovery conditions.

The results of the present study suggest that type of betrayal, or who has betrayed you

does not influence the physical impacts of forgiveness for that betrayal which is not consistent

with previous literature stating that when with a more secure attachment you are more likely to

forgive (Lawler-Row et al., 2006). If betrayed by a romantic partner that secure relationship no

longer exists, so according to Lawler-Row et al. (2006) there should have been a significant

difference between friend and romantic partner betrayals, however this was not supported by the

results of the present study.

The present study was consistent with much of the previous literature when comparing

blood pressure at rest, during recall, and during recovery after recall. We found that systolic

blood pressure was significantly higher when measured during recall than either at rest or during

recovery. Lawler-Row et al. (2006) found that they found the blood pressure to be higher during

the recall condition. However, Lawler-Row et al. (2006) found their most significant difference

in blood pressure taken during recovery, this was not consistent with the present studys findings

where the only significant difference was for a higher level during recall.

Some limitations to the present study include a nonuniform set of betrayal events varying

in severity from participant to participant, which could potentially affect participants differently
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based on the severity of the betrayal events. A way to expand on the present study in future

research would be to analyze more aspects of health in addition to types of blood pressure

allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of forgiveness on health.

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References

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