Book of Abstracts [Unofficial – Accepted Presentation, Abstract Submission Ongoing]

Although effects of religiosity and forgiveness on satisfaction with life have been tested, findings are still ambiguous. Moreover, no research to date has examined the actual mechanism linking the variables and taking different targets of forgiveness into account. We explored the associations between centrality of religiosity, forgiveness, and life satisfaction using two Polish samples with different targets of forgiveness (spouse vs. other transgressor). We also tested a model in which forgiveness of particular offenders mediates the relationship between religiosity and satisfaction with life. The Centrality of Religion Scale (CRS), Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory (TRIM) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were used. The results revealed that the associations between the variables varied as a function of target of forgiveness. When spouses were offenders, centrality of religiosity was weakly positively associated with life satisfaction and negatively related to forgiveness, whereas forgiveness correlated positively with satisfaction with life. Among participants who indicated other offenders, positive relationships between centrality of religiosity and satisfaction with life were found, but not with forgiveness. We found an indirect effect of forgiveness only for spouses and it was negative. Centrality of religiosity was positively related to avoidance toward a spouse which in turn negatively correlated with life satisfaction.