Effectiveness of the REACH Forgiveness Workbook Intervention in Reducing Salivary Cortisol and Improving Forgiveness

The present study examined the effectiveness of REACH Forgiveness workbook intervention in reducing salivary cortisol levels and improving forgiveness among young adults. Participants (N = 30) aged 18–25 years were randomly assigned to either a REACH Forgiveness intervention (n = 15) condition or a control condition (n = 15). The REACH Forgiveness condition involved a two-hour self-guided forgiveness workbook intervention, while the control condition involved no intervention. Salivary cortisol levels, unforgiveness, decisional and emotional forgiveness were assessed pre- and post-intervention. In the REACH Forgiveness intervention condition, a reduction in cortisol levels was observed relative to the control condition, thereby indicating an improvement in physiological markers of stress. The intervention also reduced revenge and avoidance motivations and enhanced benevolence motivation, conciliation motivation, emotional forgiveness, and decisional forgiveness. Even a brief forgiveness intervention positively influenced physiological stress markers and psychological processes related to interpersonal transgressions.