| Forgiveness, on the basis of the prior research, makes it possible for relationships to rebuild and continue following an interpersonal offense and is, therefore, an important tool in the maintenance of serious, long-term relationships. Based in the attachment theory and the prior research on the forgiveness, the current study examined relationship between attachment styles and forgiveness in young adults as they recalled past experiences with conflict and hurts and the different physical response between attachment styles.One hundred and fifty-six adults (males67, females89)were recruited to be investigated the role of attachment styles in relation to forgiveness by questionnaires, and forty of them(males16, females24) were investigated in an interview about a time when he or she was hurt or betrayed by a close friend or a romantic partner. Skin response conductance was measured by a Spirit-10neural biofeedback device during the interview. The research showed that:(1)There was gender difference found in avoidance and revenge motivations, the same as TRIM scores;(2)Anxiety attachment was strongly associated to forgiveness, both avoidance motivation and revenge motivations, and it could predict the levels of forgiveness;(3)Individuals who were secure attachment had a higher level of forgiveness compared to insecurely attached individuals. Individuals who got a higher score on both attachment avoidance and anxiety had a lower level of forgiveness significantly;(4)There were apparently differences among the baseline, the interview and the recovery, in addition, the galvanic skin conductance response for securely attached individuals was significantly higher than that of the insecurely attached individuals in the interview and the recovery.(5)On the other hand, adults with high level of forgiveness showed a significantly higher SCR than those with low level of forgiveness. There was apparently gender difference for SCR in the interview and the recovery. |
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