The Road to Forgiveness: A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of its Situational and Dispositional Correlates

Fehr, Ryan; Gelfand, Michele J.; Nag, Monisha

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1612494

Cited by 118 publications

(229 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

210

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Forgiveness was overall negatively related to time since the transgression, a result which was inconsistent with some previous findings in the literature suggesting that forgiveness increases with time (e.g., McCullough et al., 2003), while meta‐analytic evidence by Fehr et al. (2010) showed no evidence for a consistent relationship between forgiveness and time. This result may be connected with the retrospective nature of the study, and the operationalisation of time through the temporal distance of the incident participants remembered.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 92%

“…Prior research has suggested that forgiveness generally increases with time (McCullough et al., 2003, 2007, 2010; Wohl & McGrath, 2007). The present research shows that this is not necessarily the case (in line with the meta‐analysis by Fehr et al., 2010, who found no significant time–forgiveness relationship); rather, the trajectory of forgiveness depends on the victims’ thinking, and change in thinking over time. If they maintain (or even develop) a concrete thinking style and fail to maintain (or fail to develop) abstract thinking, forgiveness might not increase at all, or might even decrease, over time.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Such transformation requires victims to undergo a process of working through the experience, and this suggests that some form of cognitive engagement has taken place. However, research has demonstrated that ruminating on a transgression activates negative emotions and can impede forgiveness in victims (see Fehr, Gelfand, & Nag, 2010). Indeed, rumination has been found to decline over time, and the decline to be associated with increases in forgiveness (McCullough, Bono, & Root, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, a meta‐analysis by Fehr et al. (2010) found no evidence for a systematic relationship between time and forgiveness. Indeed, the present analysis would suggest that this relationship depends on what the victims do in that time and, in particular, how they cognitively engage with the transgression.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We statistically controlled for their overall amount of thinking about the transgression, in order to de‐confound this from the type of thinking. Likewise, in all studies participants were instructed to refer to a transgression by a close other, but variability in rated pre‐transgression closeness was controlled statistically because it is a known predictor of forgiveness (Fehr et al., 2010). As pre ‐transgression closeness, it is clearly exogenous to the forgiveness process and not an outcome of forgiveness itself, as may be the case for other correlates, such as severity (Wenzel et al., 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Toward the bigger picture: Concrete and abstract thinking about a transgression, and the role of time in interpersonal forgiveness

Wenzel

Coughlin

2020

Euro J Social Psych

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rumination is commonly considered detrimental to forgiveness. In contrast, we propose that different forms of post-transgression thinking are differentially effective for forgiveness, depending on their timing. Concrete thinking focuses on event details, whereas abstract thinking abstracts from details and views the event in a broader context. Following construal level theory, we propose that concrete thinking is increasingly ill-matched, and abstract thinking better matched, to the construal abilities and motivation afforded by psychological distance. Hence, over time, concrete thinking would be negatively, and abstract thinking positively, associated with forgiveness. Two correlational recall studies, with time since transgression measured (Study 1) or manipulated (Study 2), demonstrated that with greater temporal distance concrete thinking was more negatively, and abstract thinking more positively, related to forgiveness. Study 3 employed a prospective-longitudinal methodology over five time-points; intra-individual decrease in concrete thinking and increase in abstract thinking over time were related to higher levels of forgiveness. K E Y W O R D S abstract thinking, concrete thinking, construal level, forgiveness, rumination, time S U PP O RTI N G I N FO R M ATI O N Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section. How to cite this article: Wenzel M, Coughlin A-M. Toward the bigger picture: Concrete and abstract thinking about a transgression, and the role of time in interpersonal forgiveness. Eur J Soc Psychol. 2020;50:783-798. https://doi.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Toward the bigger picture: Concrete and abstract thinking about a transgression, and the role of time in interpersonal forgiveness

Wenzel

Coughlin

2020

Euro J Social Psych

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Interpersonal mindfulness and forgiveness: Examining the mediating roles of anger rumination and state anger

Yang

Chen

2022

Aggressive Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Measuring mindfulness without accounting for specific contexts may lead to controversial results. This study attempted to examine whether the newly proposed construct of interpersonal mindfulness, mindfulness as it happens within the interpersonal context, was connected to forgiveness and the mechanisms behind this connection. Data were collected from 312 participants using measures of interpersonal mindfulness, trait mindfulness, anger rumination, state anger, self‐reported forgiveness, and forgiving behavior. Results showed that interpersonal mindfulness was significantly associated with both self‐reported forgiveness and forgiving behavior even while accounting for trait mindfulness. Mediation analysis revealed that anger rumination and state anger could mediate this link separately and sequentially, but only when trait mindfulness was uncontrolled. When controlling for trait mindfulness, the mediating role of state anger remained significant, but neither anger rumination nor the serial combination did. An alternative model was also supported, showing that after controlling for interpersonal mindfulness, trait mindfulness was indirectly associated with forgiveness through anger rumination and the serial mediating effect of anger rumination and state anger, but not state anger. These findings suggest that interpersonal mindfulness is more suitable for predicting interpersonal forgiveness than trait mindfulness. State anger may operate as a proximal mechanism in explaining how mindfulness relates to interpersonal forgiveness, whereas anger rumination may operate at a more distal level.

show abstract

Emotion and intergroup cooperation: How verbal expressions of guilt, shame, and pride influence behavior in a social dilemma

Nunney

Schalk

Manstead

2022

Behavioral Decision Making

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In interpersonal relations, it is known that expressing self-conscious emotions such as guilt and shame following a transgression is beneficial to reconciliation. In the current research, we examine whether this also applies to intergroup relations. Groups of three persons played an intergroup version of the "centipede game," in which one party can cooperate with or exploit another party. In Study 1, two groups played six rounds of this game in each of two phases. Between phases, groups rated how much guilt, shame, and pride they experienced in relation to how they had performed in Phase 1; these ratings were shared with the opposing group. Groups expressing high levels of guilt and shame were associated with greater cooperation in Phase 2, whereas groups expressing high levels of pride were associated with lower cooperation in Phase 2. In Study 2, all groups played against a "group" programmed to behave in an exploitative way in Phase 1. This group then expressed shame, pride, or no emotion (control) about its performance. Cooperation in Phase 2 was significantly higher in the shame than in the pride condition, and altruistic punishment was highest in the pride condition and lowest in the shame condition. Between them, these studies show that emotional expression plays an important role in repairing intergroup relationships and in particular that expressing shame about a transgression enhances intergroup cooperation following a transgression.

show abstract

The Road to Forgiveness: A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of its Situational and Dispositional Correlates

Cited by 118 publications

References 0 publications

Toward the bigger picture: Concrete and abstract thinking about a transgression, and the role of time in interpersonal forgiveness

Toward the bigger picture: Concrete and abstract thinking about a transgression, and the role of time in interpersonal forgiveness

Interpersonal mindfulness and forgiveness: Examining the mediating roles of anger rumination and state anger

Emotion and intergroup cooperation: How verbal expressions of guilt, shame, and pride influence behavior in a social dilemma

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About