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Related Experiment Videos

Interpersonal forgiving in close relationships

M E McCullough1, E L Worthington, K C Rachal

  • 1National Institute for Healthcare Research, Rockville, Maryland 20852. mike@nihr.org

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|August 1, 1997
PubMed
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Forgiveness is a motivational shift where empathy for an offender increases the likelihood of constructive responses. This study confirms that empathy is key to understanding the process of forgiving others.

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Interpersonal Relationships

Background:

  • Forgiveness involves inhibiting destructive responses and promoting constructive behavior towards offenders.
  • A proposed model suggests forgiveness is linked to the degree of empathy experienced for the offender.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the empathy model of forgiveness.
  • To examine the relationship between empathy and forgiveness, and its impact on behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Study 1: Developed and validated measures for empathy and forgiveness. Assessed the relationship between apologies, empathy, forgiveness, and behavioral responses.
  • Study 2: Conducted an intervention study manipulating empathy levels to explore its causal link to forgiveness.

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Main Results:

  • Evidence supports that increased empathy mediates the relationship between receiving an apology and forgiving an offender.
  • Forgiveness was uniquely associated with conciliatory and avoidance behaviors towards the offending partner.
  • Intervention results generally supported forgiveness as a motivational phenomenon driven by empathy.

Conclusions:

  • Empathy is a crucial motivational factor in the process of forgiveness.
  • Understanding the empathy-forgiveness link can inform interventions aimed at promoting prosocial behavior in relationships.