Helping Christian College Students Become More Forgiving: An Intervention Study to Promote Forgiveness as Part of a Program to Shape Christian Character

Abstract

As part of a system-wide university intervention to help build stronger Christian character, an emphasis was placed on helping students become more forgiving. This effort involved chapel programs, newspaper articles, and general attention to forgiveness. Near the end of the community intervention, 65 students volunteered to attend a 6-hour psychoeducational Christian-oriented forgiveness workshop (n = 42), or participate in an assessment-only control (n = 23) condition. The content of the workshop is described in detail. Workshop attendees reported becoming even more forgiving than did students in the assessment-only condition. The use of interventions that are consistent with a student's Christian values and beliefs to promote positive character change within Christian college students is discussed.

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