The effect of various circumstances known to moderate willingness to forgive was studied in a sample of adults whose ages ranged from 18 to 90 years. The factorial structure of these circumstances was shown, as well as the link between age and the different factors. Four factors were extracted: (1) A Revenge Versus Forgiveness factor reflecting a general tendency in people to forgive (or to seek revenge) regardless of circumstances. (2) A Personal and Social Circumstances factor synthesizing the effects of various incentives from the social environment of the person. (3) An Obstacle to Forgiveness factor synthesizing the effects of the circumstance linked to the offense. (4) A Forgiveness Block factor. Age appeared as the strongest determinant of forgivingness.

The objectives of the survey were to examine the extent to which (1) laypeople agree with conceptualizations of forgiveness encountered in literature, notably that forgiveness supposes the replacement of negative emotions toward the offender by positive emotions, (2) forgiveness is a process that can only take place between an offended and an offender who is known to the offended, and (3) forgiveness is not a process that devalues the forgiven but a process that encourages him/her to behave better in the future. It was also aimed at examining the extent to which parents and children share the same conceptualizations about forgiveness. A total of 343 students participated in the study as well as their mothers and fathers. Four conceptualization factors were identified: Change of Heart, More-Than-Dyadic Process, Encourages Repentance, and Immoral Behavior. Only a minority of participants agreed with the idea that forgiving supposes regaining affection or sympathy toward the offender (23%), and with the idea that forgiveness can encourage repentance from the forgiven (33%). More participants, however, agreed with the ideas that the forgiver can be somebody in close relationship with the offended and that the forgiven can be an unknown offender or an abstract institution (46%). Very few participants (4%) agreed with the idea that forgiveness is immoral. Parents and their children tended to conceptualize forgiveness similarly.

No abstract

No abstract

The study aims to chart the development of the willingness to forgive among adolescents, as a function of seven situational factors: Possibility of revenge, cancellation of harmful consequences, encouragement to forgive from parents and/or from close friends, social proximity with the offender, intent to harm, and presence of apologies. The participants were presented with 16 stories in which an adolescent committed a harmful act against another one. Each participant was asked to rate the degree of personal willingness to forgive in each case on a continuous scale. The effect of the cancellation of consequences factor was the strongest one, and it was stronger among younger adolescents than among older adolescents. The effect of the intent factor was the second strongest factor, and it was stronger among older adolescents than among younger adolescents. The effect of the encouragement factors was moderate (encouragement by friends), or small (encouragement by parents), and no age difference was observed. The effects of the revenge, apologies, and social proximity factors were always weak. An additive-type combination process was observed in each age group.