The Effect Size of Forgiveness in Hope and Life Satisfaction Among Adolescents Living with Imperfect Family Structure: Taking Anxiety Levels and Sex into Consideration

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the differences in correlation of forgiveness and hope as well as life satisfaction according to anxiety levels and sex among adolescents living with the imperfect family structure. A total of 171 Indonesian teenagers involved were students of a state vocational school in Semarang obtained through stratified cluster random sampling (age range was 14 to 18, MAge=16.01, SDAge=0.911, Male=62,57%). The measurements used Forgiveness Scale (α=0.867), SHS (α=0.701), SWLS (α=0.733), and DASS-Anxiety (α=0.662). The result of Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis analysis showed that the three positive psychological constructs were significantly distinguished by anxiety levels and sex. Male teenagers tended to be more forgiving, had higher hope and life satisfaction than female teenagers. In addition, these variables decreased along with anxiety. The Spearman's rho correlation test between variables according to sex showed that forgiveness contributed to hope and life satisfaction more in females. Forgiveness had the highest and significant contribution to hope and life satisfaction in those with severe to profound anxiety levels; in which hope showed the correlation coefficient increased with anxiety. In contrast to male teenagers where forgiveness contributed significantly to hope only among those who had moderate anxiety levels, forgiveness in female teenagers had the lowest contribution to hope in those with moderate anxiety levels while the highest in those with severe to profound anxiety levels. In male teenagers, forgiveness contributed significantly to life satisfaction only among those with severe to profound anxiety levels; whereas in female teenagers, the contribution was also significant among those who had moderate anxiety levels. In contrast to male teenagers whose contribution of hope to life satisfaction increased along with anxiety, females showed a decrease.