Adaptation of the Decision to Forgive Scale to Turkish Culture: Validity and Reliability Study

Abstract

This study aims to adapt the Decision to Forgive Scale, initially developed by Davis et al. (2015), for use in Turkish culture. The focus is on evaluating the scale's validity and reliability within the Turkish context, providing researchers and counselors with a tool to measure the decision to forgive, separate from the act of forgiveness itself. The adaptation process involved linguistic equivalence studies, where five bilingual individuals translated the scale into Turkish. The translated version was then back-translated into English for comparison. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted with data from 297 participants to assess the construct validity of the scale. Criterion validity was evaluated through correlation with the Heartland Forgiveness Scale’s Forgiveness of Others subscale (HFS-FO). Reliability was tested using Cronbach’s alpha. The CFA results confirmed that the Turkish version of the Decision to Forgive Scale has a one-dimensional structure with high model fit indices (e.g., RMSEA = .08, CFI = .99). The scale demonstrated high internal consistency with a Cronbach’s alpha of .91. Criterion validity analysis showed a significant positive correlation (r = .527) with the HFS-FO. The Turkish adaptation of the Decision to Forgive Scale is valid and reliable. This scale can effectively measure the decision to forgive among Turkish individuals, offering a valuable tool for both research and therapeutic settings. It can help understand and enhance forgiveness-related processes and interventions in Turkish culture.