ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the forgiving process ofolder people with the unsolved past hurts. Forgiveness made olderpeople healing the hurts, keeping the healthy and happy life, andachieving ego-integrity easier. Their forgiving process wasdifferent from those that mentioned in the other models ofinterpersonal forgiveness for young adults. Five stages for olderpeople’s forgiving process were ① Destruction of trust andDamaged self-esteem, ② Anger and Rumination, ③ Cognitivechange, ④ Blossoming forgiveness, and ⑤ Deciding and Actingforgiveness. Their forgiveness was available through cognitivechanges based on understanding or empathy about the offenders aswell as changing environment or circumstances. The cognitivechanges about the offender was available through experiences ofhealing the hurt (rise of children’s social-economic status toascend, interaction with others, direct or indirect observation ofothers’ experience, getting worse health, observation of others’death, retrospection and healing of life through a religion, educationindirect intervention).