- Costs of forgiveness
- Research suggests forgiveness can have important costs in some contexts
- Based on operant conditioning theories, a lack of forgiveness can minimize the likelihood of transgressors continuing to offend
- Conversely, forgiveness may fail to motivate change and allow transgressors to continue offending
- Forgiveness can also lead to decreased self-respect and self-concept clarity for the forgiver, especially if the transgressor does not make amends or is not oriented toward the forgiver
- The role of context
- Costs and benefits of forgiveness depends on the context.
- These considerations include the outcome, the severity of the transgression, the opportunity to continue transgressing, and the qualities of the forgiver, transgressor, and relationship.
- Contextual factors and findings
- People with partners who frequently engaged in negative behavior are more satisfied if they were less forgiving
- Future transgression depends on the agreeableness of the transgressor
- Forgiveness associated with transgressing more frequently only when the victim did not tend to regulate their partners with oppositional behaviors (demanding change, expressing dissatisfaction)
- Implications
- Interventions should be tailored
- Future work
- Costs of forgiveness to physical health?
- Timing of forgiveness?
- Narcissism? Low self-esteem?