Imagery rescripting of interpersonal transgressions: Forgiveness, revenge, and commitment in the victim-transgressor...

Imagery Rescripting (ImRs) is a well-established psychotherapeutic intervention for treating aversive memories, such as those related to interpersonal transgressions. However, questions remain regarding the optimal implementation of ImRs, particularly concerning which components are most effective. In this experimental study (N = 271), we examined whether guiding participants to imagine forgiving versus taking revenge on a transgressor would differentially affect key emotional and cognitive outcomes. Additionally, we investigated the moderating role of the initial victim-transgressor commitment. Participants were instructed to imagine being the victims in a fictional interpersonal transgression. The imagined transgressor was a person with whom they had either a weak or strong commitment. Participants then engaged in an audio-guided ImRs session oriented toward either forgiveness or revenge, before indicating their aggressive inclinations, positive and negative affect, justice-related satisfaction, and feelings of empowerment. Results indicated that forgiveness-oriented ImRs led to lower aggressive inclinations and negative affect, as well as higher justice-related satisfaction, compared to revenge-oriented ImRs. No differences emerged between conditions in positive affect and feelings of empowerment. Moreover, the effectiveness of both ImRs approaches was independent of the victim-transgressor commitment. These findings suggest that forgiveness-oriented ImRs may offer a promising approach to reduce the emotional consequences of transgressions, with a reduced risk of increasing aggressive inclinations among victims. This highlights the potential value of incorporating forgiveness into ImRs protocols. However, given the fictional nature of the transgression and the standardized, non-clinical setting, further research is needed to evaluate the clinical applicability of these findings.