| The benefits of forgiveness for both interpersonal relationships and individual functioning are well established. In light of the fact that there are no known studies specifically examining the relationship between forgiveness and Olson's Circumplex Model of family functioning, this study was an initial, exploratory effort aimed at examining the relationship of systemic variables to forgiving and unforgiving families. The Circumplex variables of cohesion, adaptation, and communication were hypothesized to discriminate between forgiving and unforgiving family systems. In addition, it was hypothesized that these forgiving and unforgiving family systems would demonstrate a relationship to Olson's taxonomy of balanced/unbalanced family types. The overall relationship of the three Circumplex variables was found to discriminate between the forgiving (n = 24) and unforgiving groups (n = 7) that had been classified from a sample of 31 couples (p < .036). Specifically, adaptation accounted for the greatest amount of variance between the forgiving and unforgiving groups, although all three Circumplex variables were highly correlated and found to individually discriminate between forgiving and unforgiving family systems. There was anecdotal evidence for utilizing Olson's family type taxonomy to better understand forgiving and unforgiving family systems, although there was not a significant relationship demonstrated between balanced and unbalanced family types and forgiveness (p < .241). As expected there was a significant difference found between forgiving and unforgiving family systems on marital satisfaction (p < .01). While this study was a low-power, exploratory effort, the merging of the forgiveness and family systems fields yielded important variables and patterns to be explored in future research. |
