Decisional and Emotional forgiveness in People of Three Religious Groups in India

The present study is conducted to find the significant difference between Individualistic Forgivers (Hindu Muslim and Christian) and collectivistic Forgivers (Hindu Muslim and Christian) on their Decisional and Emotional Forgiveness. Quota sampling technique was used to collect one hundred and seventy two, Hindu Muslim and Christian Post-Graduate Students (Hindus=30, Muslims=30, Christians=28) from various departments of Karnatak University, Dharwad and Religious Members (Hindus=28, Muslims=28, Christians=28) from Church, Temples and Mosques, from Hubli-Dharwad city for this study. Individualism-Collectivism Scale (Triandis et al., 1988), Religious Commitment Inventory,(Worthington et al., 2003) and Decisional and Emotional Forgiveness Scale( Worthington 2007) were measures to test hypotheses. By providing some conditions, respondents were asked to give current intentions and emotions towards a person who has hurt them. Results revealed that Individualistic forgivers and Collectivistic forgivers (Muslims) have shown more decisional and emotional forgiveness compared to individualistic and collectivistic forgivers (Hindus and Christians).We live in a society increasingly characterized by conflict among religious people. The present research suggests that how people perceive their and an offender's religious groups can affect whether and to what degree they forgive or do not.