The Effect of a Men's Initiation Weekend on Authenticity, Assertiveness, and Forgiveness: A Pilot Study

American men experience worse outcomes on a wide range of health and well-being variables compared to women, including disease, educational problems, violence, addiction, suicide, unemployment, and life expectancy. Because of this, organizations have created programs that focus on helping men both psychologically and spiritually; however, it is important to assess the effectiveness of these programs. The Crucible Project, founded in 2002, attempts to facilitate the development of integrity, courage, and grace in men using a weekend retreat format. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the effect of the weekend retreat on participants' authenticity, assertiveness, and willingness to forgive (i.e. empirical constructs analogous to integrity, courage, and grace, respectively). Participants (N = 22) completed measures before the weekend retreat (Time 1), immediately after the weekend retreat (Time 2), and at a 1-month follow-up (Time 3). Results indicate that weekend retreat participants demonstrated a significant increase in scores on measures of authenticity and willingness to forgive and a trend toward increased scores on the measure of assertiveness over time. We conclude by discussing limitations of the study, areas for future research, and implications for spiritual and character development.