The field of forgiveness studies took off in early 1998, and for the next twenty-five years, thousands of studies have been carried out. The most recent work I co-edited with Nathaniel G. Wade is Handbook of Forgiveness, a book with over thirty chapters of analysis.
An abundance of information is presented in each chapter to show the connections between forgiveness and happiness, wellbeing, addiction, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
According to other research, forgiveness can improve our connections with friends and family, in our professional relationships, and in our interactions with our community.Another study went into great depth on how forgiveness causes our levels of the bonding hormone oxytocin to rise and our levels of cortisol, the main stress hormone, to fall.
By seeing our heart rhythms become regular, the researchers demonstrated how forgiving boosts our capacity to calm ourselves. Furthermore, repeated forgiveness has been linked to improved physical health, according to some research.
Because of this, in just few twenty-five years, we have discovered a great deal about forgiveness and how to assist those who wish to forgive in doing so more quickly and skilfully. Additionally, we are aware that dealing with injustice requires more than just forgiveness.
Individuals have a few options: they can pursue justice, put the matter in the hands of a higher authority, put up with the injustice, ignore it, or accept it and go on. By practicing mindfulness, people can also lower their emotional arousal levels.
Forgiveness, however, works wonders for those who are victims of injustice. These six significant new discoveries can help you feel better and feel more hopeful while feeling less depressed, anxious, and stressed out around other people.
Three key strategies to aid in forgiveness have been discovered by scientists in recent years. We may start by discussing the benefits of forgiveness for the forgiver.
Second, we may see how our perception of injustices affects our capacity to deal with actual injustices in life. Third, forgiveness is simply one tool we have at our disposal to deal with injustices.
People begin the process of forgiving by considering the advantages. Forgiveness teaches us that contemplating the advantages of forgiveness for ten minutes or so can inspire forgiveness.
We allowed participants similar amounts of time to consider and become acquainted with the advantages of being able to forgive the forgiver. Each subject was equally forgiving regardless of how long they spent repeating themselves these benefits—eight hours, six hours, five hours, two hours, one hour, or even just ten minutes.
In terms of its effects, contemplating the advantages of forgiveness was also highly significant, if not as much as the direct interventions. Science can be humorous at times, is able to help individuals forgive.