Neuropsychological correlates of forgiveness

Abstract

A recent study of individuals with traumatic brain injury suggests that forgiveness is a neurologically based function related to decreased self-orientation associated with decreased right parietal lobe (RPL) functioning. The current study attempted to replicate these results using 23 individuals with diagnosed seizure disorders. Neuropsychological tests of bilateral frontal, temporal, and parietal lobe functioning were used as indices of cerebral integrity and correlated with a self-report measure of forgiveness. Results indicated that frontal lobe and RPL functions were significantly and negatively correlated with forgiveness. A forward linear regression indicated that only RPL functions predict unique variance in forgiveness. The results support a neuropsychological model of forgiveness that suggests it is related to: (1) decreased self-orientation associated with decreased RPL function, which is experienced as a decreased focus on the perceived wrong to the self; and (2) decreased attention associated with decreased frontal lobe functioning, which is experienced as decreased rumination associated with feeling wronged. Research and practical implications are discussed.

Functional and structural indices of empathy: Evidence for self-orientation as a neuropsychological foundation of empathy.

“…Further research regarding the expression of increased and decreased self-orientation processes is also warranted given the multiple studies that suggest that decreased RPL functioning (as measured by the JOLO and/or finger agnosia tests) is associated with increased transcendence (Johnstone et al, 2012;Johnstone & Glass, 2008) and increased willingness to forgive (Johnstone et al, 2012;Johnstone et al, 2014), but decreased empathy (Grattan et al, 1994;current study). Future research may benefit from determining how increased and decreased self-orientation may be related to other human experiences (e.g., altruism, antisocial personality, etc.…”

“…Two recently published studies suggest that decreased RPL functioning is also related to increased willingness to forgive in populations with both traumatic brain injury (TBI; Johnstone et al, 2012) and seizures (Johnstone et al, 2014). These studies suggest that to forgive, one must be willing to decrease focus on the perceived wrong to the self.…”

The Neural Association between Tendency to Forgive and Spontaneous Brain Activity in Healthy Young Adults

“…Dysfunction of IPL will cause an individual to be more emotional egocentricity because of disabling to perceive the emotions of others (Silani et al, 2013 ). Recent studies examined the association between neuropsychological indices of cerebral integrity and forgiveness in a population with traumatic brain injury (Johnstone et al, 2012 , 2015 ) and found that decreased parietal lobe functions were negatively related to individual differences of forgiveness. Taking someone else’s perspective is an important prerequisite for understanding and predicting other people’s mental states like desires, thoughts or intentions.…”

The relationship between individual differences in gray matter volume and religiosity and mystical experiences: A preregistered voxel‐based morphometry study

“…For instance, although several studies have suggested the involvement of structural temporal lobe abnormalities in religiosity, the findings are inconclusive: on the one hand, temporal lobe atrophy has been associated with increased religiosity by using a region‐of‐interest (ROI) analysis (Chan et al., ; Owen, Hayward, Koenig, Steffens, & Payne, ), while another study found that higher religiosity was associated with an increased volume of the temporal lobe, also by using an ROI voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) analysis (Kapogiannis, Barbey, Su, Krueger, & Grafman, ). Similarly, whereas several neuropsychological lesion‐based studies have shown that damage to the inferior parietal lobe (IPL) is associated with increased spirituality (Johnstone, Bodling, Cohen, Christ, & Wegrzyn, ; Johnstone & Glass, ; Johnstone et al., ; Urgesi, Aglioti, Skrap, & Fabbro, ), another VBM study found that an increased IPL volume was associated with higher spirituality (Van Schuerbeek, Baeken, De Raedt, De Mey, & Luypaert, ). Thus, the debate on the precise neural mechanisms involved in religiosity is far from settled.…”

“…He found that peak experiences of absolute unity are associated with a reduced blood flow to the superior parietal lobes and an increased activation of prefrontal areas, which he interpreted as being associated with a stronger focused attention. Other studies have used neuropsychological assessment techniques as an indirect proxy for superior parietal lobe functioning to establish a relationship between parietal lobe atrophy and religiosity (Johnstone & Glass, ; Johnstone et al., , ; Urgesi et al., ). These studies indicate that a reduced activation or an impaired functioning of the parietal lobes (including the bilateral SPL and the IPL) is associated with a higher sensitivity for having spiritual experiences and increased religiosity.…”