The role of automaticity in determining the inclination to forgive close others
Section snippets
The role of deliberative processes in the inclination to forgive
Hitherto, the literature on forgiveness generally proposes that deliberative and effortful cognitive processes determine a person’s decision to forgive an offender. Accordingly, research has also predominantly focused on the role of deliberative factors that may or may not determine forgiving responses. For example, Finkel, Rusbult, Kumashiro, and Hannon (2002) examined the link between relationship commitment and forgiveness, and found that this relationship is – although partially – mediated
The role of automaticity in the inclination to forgive
Although the above-mentioned studies provide just a few examples of research that has focused on the role of deliberative processes by which people become to respond in a forgiving manner, undeniably, the general tenet in the forgiveness literature is that responding in a prorelationship manner after one has been damaged by the partner’s behavior is generally the result of a relatively deliberative and effortful process. But is this is always the case? Is a person’s inclination to forgive
The present research
The above reasoning provides a framework for understanding the process underlying a person’s inclination to forgive following an interpersonal offensive behavior of a partner. In sum, we argue that mental representations that people develop of their relationships with close others include that one responds in a forgiving manner when offended by the close other. This representation of interpersonal knowledge causes the concept of forgiveness to be automatically activated by close others, and
Study 1
The goal of Study 1 was to examine whether forgiving responses are evoked when representations of the close other are activated outside of awareness. Such findings would provide strong evidence for the proposed automatic closeness–forgiveness link, and would suggest that forgiveness is indeed mentally represented in the relationship representation of the close other (for similar reasoning, see Fitzsimons & Bargh, 2003). For this purpose, we employed a subliminal priming procedure to expose
Study 2
Study 2 served two main purposes. First, we tried to replicate the findings of Study 1 to test the robustness of the automatic closeness–forgiveness link. Second, a central part of our process-oriented approach towards forgiveness is that the mere priming of the representation of a close other is capable of directly activating a forgiving response to offensive behavior. An important question emanating from Study 1, however, is whether participants’ responses truly reflect the inclination to
Study 3
The findings of Study 1 and 2 strongly suggest that forgiveness is indeed associated with the mental representation of close others (and not of non-close others), as indicated by the finding that participants react with higher inclinations to forgive when subliminally primed with the name of the close other (cf. Fitzsimons & Bargh, 2003). Although encouraging, there is one important limitation of Studies 1 and 2. That is, in both studies we have provided participants with the label of
Study 4
Studies 1 though 3 provide good evidence for the proposed automatic link between closeness and forgiveness. That is, subliminal priming of the close other evokes higher inclinations to forgive (Studies 1 and 2), and a close other automatically activates the concept of forgiveness (Study 3). Provided this automatic link between closeness and forgiveness, in our Introduction we reasoned that the inclination to forgive should therefore also result from a less effortful process in the context of
General discussion
The central purpose of the present research was to examine the role of automatic processes that may determine the inclination to forgive an offender. Based on previous theorizing on the possible role of automaticity in close relationships, it was predicted that inclinations to forgive arise relatively automatically in the context of a close relationship.
Results of four studies provided good evidence in line with our central prediction. Specifically, and in line with our reasoning that
References (58)
- et al.
Priming relationship schemas: my advisor and the Pope are watching me from the back of my mind
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
(1990) - et al.
The effects of blame attributions and offender likebleness on forgiveness and revenge in the workplace
Journal of Management
(1999) - et al.
Does activating justice help or hurt in promoting forgiveness?
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
(2005) - et al.
Accommodative behavior in close relationships: exploring transformation of motivation
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
(1994) - et al.
Habits as knowledge structures: automaticity in goal-directed behavior
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
(2000) - et al.
The silence of the library: environment, situational norm, and social behavior
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
(2003) - et al.
Inclusion of the Other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
(1992) Joking violence among highly committed individuals
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
(2002)Relational schemas and the processing of social information
Psychological Bulletin
(1992)Auto-motives: preconscious determinants of social interaction
The cognitive monster: the case against the controllability of automatic stereotypic effects
The mind in the middle: a practical guide to priming and automaticity research
Automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of trait construct and stereotype activation on action
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Attachment styles among young adults: a test of a four-category model
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
On the spontaneity of trait attribution: converging evidence for the role of cognitive strategy
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
The victim role, grudge theory, and two dimensions of forgiveness
The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation
Psychological Bulletin
Victim and perpetrator accounts of interpersonal conflict: autobiographical narratives about anger
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Attributions of blame and forgiveness in romantic relationship
Journal of Social Behavior and Personality
Intimate relationships
Relationship orientation as a moderator of the effects of social power
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Adult attachment, working models, and relationship quality in dating couples
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Descartes’s error: emotion, reason, and the human brain
The power of the subliminal: Subliminal perception and possible applications
The kiss of the porcupines: from attributing responsibility to forgiving
Personal Relationships
Attributions in close relationships: from balkanization to integration
Forgiveness in marriage: the role of relationship quality, attributions, and empathy
Personal Relationships
Dealing with betrayal in close relationships: does commitment promote forgiveness?
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Thinking of you: nonconscious pursuit of interpersonal goals associated with relationship partners
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Cited by (83)
The influence of relationship closeness and desire for forgiveness on interpersonal forgiveness
2021, International Journal of PsychophysiologyCitation Excerpt :This leaves both partners with negative outcomes such as anger, frustration, guilt, and dissatisfaction with the relationship. In contrast, responding in a more forgiving manner may prevent such escalation, and leads to more positive feelings and emotions (Karremans and Aarts, 2007). Thus, forgiveness of close offenders has more long-term value.
Self-regulation facilitates forgiveness in close relationships
2024, Current PsychologyThe double-edged sword of employee forgiveness: How forgiveness motives steer forgiveness toward interpersonal citizenship behaviors and interpersonal deviance
2023, Business Ethics, the Environment and ResponsibilityA Qualitative Method to Examine the Positive Impact of a Storytelling Intervention in Reducing Reactive and Proactive Aggression in Young Schoolchildren
2023, Applied Research in Quality of Life