Church-Based Emotional Support and Self-Forgiveness in Late Life

The intent of this study is to see whether emotional support from fellow church members is associated with self-forgiveness in late life. The data come from a longitudinal nationwide survey of older adults. An effort is made to contribute to the literature by comparing and contrasting the effects of two church-based support measures: the amount of emotional support that is provided by fellow church members and satisfaction with emotional support from co-religionists. The findings suggest that older study participants who are more satisfied with the emotional support they have received from the members of their church are more likely to forgive themselves than older people who are not satisfied with the emotional support they have received in church. In contrast, significant effects failed to emerge with the measure of the amount of received emotional support.