Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory [TRIM-18]

Description

The Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory (TRIM-18) is a self-report instrument that assesses changes in a person’s interpersonal motivations toward someone who has offended, wronged, or hurt them.

Forgiveness is not treated as a simple declaration or as necessarily involving reconciliation. Instead, it is understood as a gradual reduction in avoidance and revenge motivations, together with a possible increase in benevolent motivations toward the offender.

The instrument was originally developed as a 12-item scale and was subsequently expanded into an 18-item version.

Dimensions

The TRIM-18 comprises three dimensions:

  • Avoidance: Assesses the desire to distance oneself from the offender, restrict communication, or end the relationship.
  • Revenge: Measures the desire to retaliate, punish the offender, or cause negative consequences for them.
  • Benevolence: Examines positive or conciliatory motivations, including the willingness to move beyond the incident and potentially restore the relationship.

The original TRIM-12 contains only the Avoidance and Revenge subscales. The TRIM-18 adds six items measuring benevolent motivations. The extended version therefore includes seven Avoidance, five Revenge, and six Benevolence items.

Aim

The primary aim of the inventory is to assess interpersonal motivations associated with forgiveness following a specific transgression. It can be used to:

  • Examine how forgiveness develops over time.
  • Evaluate the effects of an apology or psychological intervention.
  • Investigate relationships between forgiveness, empathy, anger, and rumination.
  • Examine relationship quality and interpersonal closeness.

The TRIM is not a clinical diagnostic instrument and does not determine whether someone should forgive or reconcile with the offender.

Data Analysis and Use

Scores are generally analysed separately for each subscale. Either sum scores or mean scores may be calculated. Mean scores can facilitate comparisons between subscales containing different numbers of items.

Psychometric analysis may include:

  • Descriptive statistics.
  • Internal-consistency assessment using Cronbach’s alpha or McDonald’s omega.
  • Exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis.
  • Correlations with empathy, anger, apology, rumination, and relationship quality.
  • Repeated-measures analysis to examine changes over time.

Research on the original instrument supported the distinction between Avoidance and Revenge motivations and demonstrated meaningful associations with empathy, apology, rumination, and relationship closeness.

Scoring

Responses are typically provided on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = Strongly disagree to 5 = Strongly agree.

Higher Avoidance scores indicate a stronger tendency to distance oneself from the offender, while higher Revenge scores reflect a greater desire for retaliation. Higher Benevolence scores indicate stronger positive or conciliatory motivations.

An overall forgiveness index may be calculated by reverse-scoring the Avoidance and Revenge items and combining them with the Benevolence items. Nevertheless, reporting the three subscale scores separately is recommended because they represent distinct aspects of the interpersonal response.

The instrument has no universally accepted diagnostic cut-off scores. Results should be interpreted according to the study population, research purpose, and specific version administered.

References

McCullough, M. E., Rachal, K. C., Sandage, S. J., Worthington, E. L., Jr., Brown, S. W., & Hight, T. L. (1998). Interpersonal forgiving in close relationships: II. Theoretical elaboration and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(6), 1586–1603. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.6.1586

McCullough, M. E., Root, L. M., & Cohen, A. D. (2006). Writing about the benefits of an interpersonal transgression facilitates forgiveness. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(5), 887–897. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.74.5.887

McCullough, M. E., Fincham, F. D., & Tsang, J. A. (2003). Forgiveness, forbearance, and time: The temporal unfolding of transgression-related interpersonal motivations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(3), 540–557. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.3.540

McCullough, M. E., Luna, L. R., Berry, J. W., Tabak, B. A., & Bono, G. (2010). On the form and function of forgiving: Modeling the time-forgiveness relationship and testing the valuable relationships hypothesis. Emotion, 10(3), 358–376. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019349