| Though considerable research has recently explored the determinants and benefits of interpersonal forgiveness, little research has investigated how forgiveness happens in commonplace predicaments and how apologies help in such situations. Researchers contend that practicing commonplace forgiveness can prepare us for extraordinary dilemmas of forgiveness. Two likely contexts for commonplace forgiveness, intergroup and multicultural settings, are explored in three studies. Much research finds ingroup biases to be pervasive. Does this hold true when an ingroup member breaks an important norm? Study 1 staged a conflict and then measured intergroup forgiveness and the degree to which emotional or informational concessions in apologies are either mitigating or aggravating. Evidence was found for leniency toward ingroup offenders. Study 2 investigated forgiveness cross-culturally (between Sicilians and Americans) in relation to values and various social-cognitive mechanisms. Remorse was found to have a pervasive beneficial effect on judgments of forgiveness. Various cultural mechanisms were identified that were associated with differences in forgiveness levels between the two samples. Additional qualitative research (Study 3) revealed cultural differences in apology strategies as well as relationships apology strategies had with age, first-time vs. repeat offenses, and with forgiveness. Implications for conflict resolution and the general sustainability of social systems are discussed. |
