Title
Humility and the Development and Repair of Social Bonds: Two Longitudinal Studies
School/Department
Rosemead School of Psychology
Publication Date
2-2012
Abstract
A theory of relational humility asserts that humility can promote strengthening social bonds. To complement prior, cross-sectional research on this topic, two longitudinal studies were conducted. In Study 1, college students in romantic relationships (N = 123), all of whom had been hurt or offended by their partners within the last two months, completed measures of humility and unforgiveness for six consecutive weeks. Relational humility predicted unforgiving motives (lagged by one time-point). In Study 2, we examined college students (N = 84) in small groups that did three tasks intended to challenge humility. Round-robin ratings were used over the course of three measurement occasions to evaluate whether trait humility predicted formation of strong social bonds. As predicted, trait humility was associated with greater group status and acceptance. We concluded that, by using longitudinal methods, there is support for the proposition that humility can help repair and form relationships with strong social bonds.
Keywords
Humility; Modesty; Forgiveness;
Publication Title
Self and Identity
Volume
12
Issue
1
First Page
58
Last Page
77
DOI of Published Version
10.1080/15298868.2011.636509
Recommended Citation
Hill, Peter C., "Humility and the Development and Repair of Social Bonds: Two Longitudinal Studies" (2012). Faculty Articles & Research. 579.
https://digitalcommons.biola.edu/faculty-articles/579