Date of Award

Spring 5-2007

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Dr. Mark Leach

Committee Chair Department

Psychology

Committee Member 2

Dr. Bonnie Nicholson

Committee Member 2 Department

Psychology

Committee Member 3

Dr. Randolph Arnau

Committee Member 3 Department

Psychology

Committee Member 4

Dr. James T. Johnson

Abstract

Hope and forgiveness have historically been considered as theological constructs which have received empirical study in the past two decades. Many of the studies on the two constructs have either examined their relationship to personality, spirituality, or mood. None of the studies, however, have examined the relationship between personality, spirituality, and mood in the same study to better understand the relationship between all three constructs and hope and forgiveness. A mood induction procedure was used to determine whether altering mood resulted in a significant change in hope and forgiveness. Additionally, this study attempted to determine whether spirituality, as measured by the Assessment o f Spirituality and Religious Sentiments Scale and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale, accounted for significant variance above and beyond that explained by personality and mood, both of which have shown significant relationships to hope and forgiveness. Finally, the role o f spirituality regarding hope and forgiveness in depressed, neutral (control) and elated moods was examined.

Results using a mixed analysis o f variance (ANOVA) indicated that altering mood significantly changed hope but not forgiveness. Results using multiple regression models indicated that spirituality, explained a significant amount o f variance in both hope and forgiveness above and beyond that explained by personality alone. With respect to hope, four significant factors were found while only one spirituality factor, existential well-being, explained the variance in forgiveness. Finally, spirituality played more of a role in hope in a depressed state than it did in neutral or elated states. Results are discussed in terms o f their use for researchers and clinicians.