Religiosity, Willingness to Forgive and Referred Health in University Students: Comparative Study

Abstract

Introduction: Forgiveness is considered the act of excusing a mistake, and it can have the potential to relieve victims of the weight of hurt, rumination and resentment. Objective: To compare the profile of religiosity, willingness to forgive and self-reported health of graduates of nursing and psychology courses at a confessional institution in relation to the indices presented at the beginning of the courses. Method: Cross-sectional, quantitative study, developed in continuity with a previous stage, with students entering the first semester of 2018 in undergraduate courses in nursing and psychology at a private university in São Paulo-SP. In the current stage, graduating students who participated in the first stage of the research and others who chose to participate were included, totaling 65 students. Sociodemographic data, Religiosity Index (DUKE-DUREL) and Disposition to Forgive Scale (EDP) were collected. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, and the comparison of means test were applied, using Student's t test. Results: When comparing with the data collected at the beginning of both courses, there was a decrease in the rates of religiosity, willingness to forgive and self-reported health of respondents. What most drew attention was that the EDP showed a decrease from 42.59 (±15.6) to 40.19 (±13.14) in the nursing course and from 50.06 (±11.88) to 37.35 (±14.86) in the psychology course, with the highest drop for psychology (p<0.05).Conclusion: It is necessary that, spiritual and religious questions are present in the professional training of nurses, psychologists and other professionals in the health area.