Title

Intellectual humility and forgiveness of religious leaders

School/Department

Rosemead School of Psychology

Publication Date

2-2015

Abstract

This article presents two studies that examined how perceptions of intellectual humility affect response to a transgression by a religious leader. In Study 1, participants (N = 105) rated the religious leader on intellectual humility regarding different religious beliefs and values, as well as general humility and forgiveness of the leader for a transgression. Perceived intellectual humility was positively associated with forgiveness, even when controlling for perceived general humility. In Study 2, we replicated the findings from Study 1 on an independent sample (N = 299). Also, the type of offense moderated the association between perceived intellectual humility and forgiveness. For participants, who reported an offense in the area of religious beliefs, values, or convictions, the association between perceived intellectual humility and forgiveness was stronger than for participants, who reported a different type of offense. We conclude by discussing limitations and areas for future research.

Keywords

Religious leaders; Humility; Forgiveness

Publication Title

The Journal of Positive Psychology

Volume

10

Issue

6

First Page

499

Last Page

506

DOI of Published Version

10.1080/17439760.2015.1004554

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