Back from the Association for Assessment and Research national conference. I presented with Drs. Alex Hodges and Jason Vannest on our study about emotional states when we experience forgiveness, Karma, and revenge. What a great group of colleagues!

If you are reading this post and you participated in this study, thank you! Our findings from you all were fascinating!

1. Karma makes us happier. When someone harms us and the offender gets what they deserve, and we did not have to do anything to make it happen, we are happier than when we forgive or seek vengeance.

2. We desire forgiveness more than Karma or revenge.

3. Forgiveness makes us more anxious than Karma.

4. We experience more sadness when we forgive than when we seek revenge or experience Karma.

So, while we desire forgiveness, we will gladly take the easy way out if the person gets what they deserve, and we did not have to do anything to enact it. And maybe forgiveness is more difficult, because we experience more negative emotions in the form of sadness and stress. The idea that forgiveness feels more difficult is probably true, because we tend to emote undesirable feelings when confronting forgiveness.

Again, thank you all for those who participated. And your participation was anonymous. So if you respond to this post with something like, “It was a pleasure to participate in this study,” then that’s on you!