Forgiveness

Research in the psychology of forgiveness continues to grow. This chapter starts by defining forgiveness and briefly reviewing research methodology used in the psychological study of forgiveness. We then review the major antecedents of forgiveness, including intrapersonal variables such as empathy, personality, attributions, and religion; interpersonal variables such as relationship closeness, and conciliatory behavior on the part of the transgressor; and transgression-specific variables such as perceptions of severity, responsibility, and intent. Major forgiveness interventions are reviewed. The outcomes of forgiveness are also discussed, and the question of whether forgiveness is uniformly positive is raised. Lastly, future directions in the study of forgiveness are proposed.

Differences in Personality Attributions Toward Tattooed and Nontattooed Virtual Human Characters

Individuals with body modifications, such as tattoos, have been shown to differ from nonmodified individuals in sensation-seeking personality characteristics and sociosexuality. This study examined possible differences in people’s attributions of those characteristics toward virtual human characters varying in body modification. Some 287 participants rated tattooed and nontattooed bodies of avatars on aspects of sensation seeking and number of previous sexual partners. Tattooed stimuli were rated as more experience, thrill, and adventure seeking as well as more likely to have a high number of previous sexual partners and as less inhibited when compared to nontattooed stimuli, and this was particularly true for male stimuli. It was concluded that people with body modifications, such as tattoos, are perceived differently compared to nontattooed individuals in terms of sensation seeking and previous sexual partner number, this being particularly true for men. Findings are discussed with reference to the evolutionary model of human sexual selection.

The Personality of Pursuit: Personality Attributions of Unwanted Pursuers and Stalkers

A sample of 292 college students recalled a partner who had engaged in unwanted pursuit (46%) or recalled their most recent “normal” dating relationship. Subjects rated their own level of stalking victimization and rated the partner on a series of personality characteristics and social competence. Unwanted pursuers were perceived as less socially competent, more histrionic, more borderline, and less obsessive-compulsive, with discrimination of “normals” from unwanted pursuers of approximately 75% to 80% accuracy. These attributions also significantly predicted a continuous measure of unwanted pursuit victimization (R = .406). Implications for developing more precise and practical risk profiles of unwanted pursuers are discussed.