When God Disappoints

Abstract

In light of growing empirical interest in the links between forgiveness, religious belief, and well-being, a study was designed to examine the emotional impact of a specific problem with forgiveness: difficulty forgiving God. Difficulty forgiving God was found to predict anxious and depressed mood within a college student sample ( N 5 200), and its contribution was independent of difficulties forgiving the self and others. Two psychological factors emerged as central in explaining the link between difficulty forgiving God and negative emotion: an angry disposition and feelings of alienation from God. Also, among those who currently believed in God, forgiving God for a specific, powerful incident predicted lower levels of anxious and depressed mood. These findings suggest that an unforgiving attitude toward God is a distinct type of problem with forgiveness, one that serves as a potent predictor of negative emotion.