Counseling Psychology

Permanent URI for this collection

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

The Link between the Level of Forgiveness and Nationalism in Armenians and the Level of Social Distance they Feel Towards Turks and Azerbaijanis
(2014) Ter-Sahakyan, Elizabeth
This study explored the link between the level of forgiveness and nationalism in Armenians as individual traits and the level of social distance they feel towards Turkish and Azerbaijani people among 163 Armenians in Yerevan, Armenia. The study relied on a self-report method, where participants provided demographic information, and filled in three questionnaires: The Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS), a Nationalistic Attitude Scale and the Bogardus Social Distance Scale. The results were analyzed by using a correlation and a t-test. Results showed that forgiveness in Armenians as an individual trait correlated negatively with social distance with the Azerbaijanis but not the Turks. With regards to nationalism the study showed that nationalism correlated positively with social distance with the Azerbaijanis but not the Turks. In addition, this study revealed that if the variables of forgiveness and nationalism are excluded, the social distance among Armenians is higher towards the Azerbaijanis than towards Turks. The information obtained by this research equipped us with some psychological knowledge on which to base future professional training and counselling services in the area of national trauma and hostility recovery.