Divine forgiveness may build psychological and spiritual resources following moral transgressions: an ecological momentary assessment study of U.S. Christians

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

This ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study examined forms and functions of divine forgiveness (DF) in a nationwide sample of U.S. Christian adults. In total, 104 participants completed assessments of moral transgressions and indices of psychological and spiritual health (state DF, negative and positive affect, moral struggle, self-kindness, connectedness with God) four times daily for 21 days. Considering the 21% of moments in which a transgression occurred, participants generally had worse psychospiritual states at the next assessment. In such cases, seeking and experiencing forgiveness from God was prospectively linked with increased state DF, self-kindness and connectedness with God but not with reduced distress. Although our data supported reciprocal associations between variables, state DF uniquely predicted other psychospiritual states from day-to-day rather than vice versa. In combination, these findings suggest an upward spiral in which moments of transgression-specific DF lead to positive psychospiritual states that may support well-being and resilience more broadly.