The purpose of this study was to investigate the moderating effects of forgiveness in relation between negative social exchange and depressive symptoms of university students. A total of 421 students were recruited from four universities in Seoul. The...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the moderating effects of forgiveness in relation between negative social exchange and depressive symptoms of university students. A total of 421 students were recruited from four universities in Seoul. The Test of Negative Social Exchange (TENSE: Finch et al., 1999) was used to measure negative social exchange. The Forgiveness Trait Scale (FTS: Kim & Kwon, 2009) was used to evaluate forgiveness. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D: Radloff, 1977) was used to measure depressive symptoms. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, two-way ANOVAs, Pearson’s correlations, and multiple regression analyses.
The major findings of the study were as follows:
1. The female students reported significantly higher level of negative social exchange and depressive symptoms compared to the male students. Also, the students with religion reported significantly higher level of forgiveness and lower level of depressive symptoms compared to their counter group.
2. Negative social exchange was positively related to depressive symptoms, and forgiveness was negatively related to depressive symptoms.
3. Forgiveness moderated the association between negative social exchange and depressive symptoms.
These results suggest that forgiveness could be a protective factor against negative social exchange and depressive symptoms.