Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Post-Conflict Settings

Associations of dispositional forgivingness with facets of well‐being among Colombian adults: A longitudinal outcome‐wide analysis

“…In our sample of predominantly younger adults, forgivingness-trust connections might portend healing from conflict. This is especially more likely because Mullet et al (2021) found that parents were not highly likely to pass down their own prejudices against former enemies to their children. Although it is somewhat surprising that dispositional forgivingness showed little evidence of association with social support, the need for social support often depends on the number and severity of interpersonal stressors one is experiencing (Pierce & Quiroz, 2019).…”

“…The findings that emerged for the domains of social well‐being and character strengths/virtues in this study are consistent with a capacity of this younger generation of Colombians, who are generally less likely to have experienced the civil conflicts within their late adolescent or young adult years, to put the 60 years of civil conflicts in the country behind them and move toward building a more cohesive society. For example, trust seems to be vital in reconciling (for a review of many post‐conflict societies, see Mullet et al, 2021), but people often find it hard to move toward the trust needed for reconciliation if they do not feel the safety that comes with trust. Trust is only possible if both parties are being mutually trustworthy.…”

“…Colombia is a post-conflict society that has endured decades of civil war. Between 1964 and 2016, the country experienced protracted internal conflict in which government regimes, far-right paramilitary forces, communist guerrilla factions, and organised crime groups fought to maintain or gain control over state territory and resources (Mullet et al, 2021). An estimated 200,000 Colombian citizens have died or disappeared in connection with the civil conflict (Historical Memory Group, 2016).…”

All victims have something to say: the differential impact of victims’ narratives on intergroup forgiveness / Todas las víctimas tienen algo que decir: el impacto diferencial de las narrativas de víctimas en el perdón intergrupal

“…Forgiveness has been associated with variables like victimization, spirituality and group identity (Noor, 2016), in addition to psychosocial variables like empathy (Van Tongeren et al, 2014). In Spain, specifically in the Basque Country, the willingness to forgive perpetrators like ETA is positively related to empathy towards the victims and perpetrators (Mullet et al, 2021). However, despite this evidence, how a victim's decision to forgive may impact ingroup attitudes towards the outgroup is not yet clear.…”

“…El perdón, ha estado relacionado con variables como la victimización, la espiritualidad y la identidad grupal (Noor, 2016), además de variables psicosociales como la empatía (Van Tongeren et al, 2014). En el contexto español, específicamente en el País Vasco, la disposición a perdonar a grupos perpetradores como ETA, se ha visto positivamente relacionada con la empatía hacia víctimas y victimarios (Mullet et al, 2021). Sin embargo, a pesar de estas evidencias, aún no es claro cómo la decisión de una víctima de perdonar puede impactar las actitudes de los miembros del endogrupo frente a el exogrupo.…”