The Role of Adult Attachment Style in Forgiveness Following an Interpersonal Offense

The ability to create and maintain intimate, stable, and mutually satisfying relationships is one of the most important tasks in adult personality development (Blatt & Blass, 1995). The achievement of a meaningful and satisfying interpersonal life requires the development of a number of traits, including a capacity for trust and cooperation (K. N. Levy & Blatt, 1999). In addition to these positive traits, partners in an intimate relationship must also possess the ability to tolerate, cope with, and work through the inevitable mistakes and shortcomings of their partner. Forgiveness is one response that allows relationships to continue, despite mistakes, betrayals, or failures to meet expectations (Fincham, 2000; Karen, 1995). It allows the one who is offended to let go of the negative affect that would interfere with further intimacy (McCullough, Worthington, & Rachal, 1997) and fosters the development of more complex cognitive representations of one's partner (Flanigan, 1998). Forgiveness makes it possible for relationships to continue and prosper after threats to intimacy have occurred and is, therefore, an important tool in the maintenance of serious, long-term relationships (Exline & Baumeister, 2000; Fow, 1996; Ripley & Worthington, 2002). Forgiveness requires a willingness to experience and acknowledge the hurt (Worthington, 2001), as opposed to denying or forgetting it, necessarily involving the experience of negative affect. Forgiveness also requires the development of a more complex view of an offender--no longer an idealized projection of one's romantic partner but an individual who possesses both positive and negative capabilities and behaviors (Al-Mabuk, Enright, & Cardis, 1995; Flanigan, 1998). A variety of factors have been shown to facilitate or inhibit the ability to forgive an offender after an interpersonal betrayal or hurt (McCullough, Bellah, Kilpatrick, & Johnson, 2001). Personality factors, such as the Agreeableness and Emotional stability components of the Big Five, have been positively related to forgiveness and nonretaliation (Ashton, Paunonen, Helmes, & Jackson, 1998). Empathy has been strongly related to forgiveness and is generally incorporated in counseling interventions designed to increase forgiveness (Enright & Fitzgibbons, 2000; McCullough et al., 1997). Other factors affecting the tendency to forgive are more specific to the relationship or the circumstances surrounding the event, such as importance of the relationship (Rusbult, Verette, Whitney, & Slovik, 1991), receipt of an apology, or perceived remorse (Rowe & Hailing, 1998). Another potentially important, and largely uninvestigated, antecedent of forgiveness is attachment style (Kachadourian, Fincham, & Davila, 2004; Worthington & Wade, 1999). The history of one's relationships and their security may have an impact on the resiliency of current relationships, especially in the face of conflict and betrayal. * Attachment Theory and Research According to attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969), early childhood experiences with primary caregivers set up internal "working models" that serve as guides to approaching new relationships (Ainsworth, 1969). A secure attachment style develops in an environment wherein the child's caregiver is accessible and responsive to the child's needs and the relationship between the child and caregiver is warm (Sroufe & Waters, 1977a). An insecure attachment style develops when the caregiving environment is unpredictable and the affective quality of the relationship is negative or unstable. A child who has formed a secure attachment with the primary caregiver will likely approach new relationships with trust and comfort, whereas a child who has developed an insecure attachment style will likely view intimate relationships with some amount of distrust or fear (Sroufe & Waters, 1977a). Building on research by Hazan and Shaver (1987) that extended attachment theory from parent--child to adult interpersonal relationships, several studies have indicated that attachment style is a relatively enduring and stable feature of individuals throughout their lives (Bohlin, Hagehull, & Rydell, 2000; Kirkpatrick & Davis, 1994; Waters, Weinfield, & Hamilton, 2000). …