We examined whether psychological distance from interpersonal transgressions can promote victim forgiveness via high-level construal. Participants responded to conflict vignettes. In Experiment 1, we found a positive effect of temporal distance on forgiveness, mediated by construal level. In Experiment 2, we found a positive effect of physical distance on construal level (2a) and a positive effect of construal level on forgiveness (2b). In Experiment 3, we found that construal level promotes forgiveness via reduced perceptions of transgression severity. Together, our experiments demonstrate that increasing victims’ psychological distance from interpersonal transgressions promotes forgiveness due to high-level construal. Implications for construal level theory and for research on forgiveness are discussed.
The current research examined whether mindfulness promotes offender apologies. In Study 1, we found a positive relation between trait mindfulness and one’s disposition to apologize. In Study 2, we found a positive effect of a mindfulness intervention on state apology for a laboratory-induced transgression. In Study 3, an online mindfulness intervention was found to have a positive effect on apologetic (vs. nonapologetic) behavior for transgressors. In Study 4, we found preliminary support for reduced negative self-focused cognitions and emotions when testing a parallel mediation model. We also found support for negative self-focused, as well as positive other-focused, cognitions and emotions when testing a serial mediational model. Our findings are discussed within broader theoretical questions concerning the psychological factors that promote and prevent apologies and the role of mindfulness in constructive responses to transgressions from the perspective of offenders.
For dieters, competition by means of food choice can provide a means of restoring self-regard when self-esteem has been threatened in some other domain.
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