Relationship between Forgiveness, Gratitude and Resilience among the Adolescents

Role of positive psychology is to nurture values and strengths in individuals and society. Forgiveness trait of temperance, and Gratitude trait of transcendence, are criteria of character strength (Christopher Peterson, Martin Sehgman, 2004). Resilience is the ability to spring back from adversity and successfully adapt to any situation. These three traits play a significant role in deriving satisfaction and making life meaningful. These values need to be nurtured in children from the beginning. Hence, the objective of the present study was to assess forgiveness, gratitude and resilience among the adolescents and find out the strength of their inter-relationship. The sample consisted of 150 Grade XI students from the schools of Delhi. The tools used were Heartland Forgiveness Scale by Thompson et al., 2005, Gratitude Questionnaire-six item form by McCullough et al., 2002, and Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM) by Ungar and Liebenberg (2011). These tools have been used in various studies in the Indian context. The statistical analysis showed a correlation of 0.23 between forgiveness and resilience, a correlation of 0.27 between gratitude and resilience and a correlation of 0.24 between forgiveness and gratitude. Though the correlation values were low, they were found to be significant. Interestingly, school-wise analysis showed different results for different schools; thus indicating a probable role played by the school environment, and socio-economtc status of the students. Further, gender difference was seen with regard to gratitude having more correlation with resilience in case of girls; whereas forgiveness was related more to resilience in case of boys. Further study is suggested taking into account the above variables.