New Abstract
Whether to forgive or not is the choice to be made by the ones who suffered injustice by another with varying motivations for forgiving or not forgiving. However, third parties might have an impact on whether or not those who were hurt by others may consider forgiveness as a viable option as a way to address what they suffered. Some motivations might be evaluated as more appropriate than others, which may interact with various contextual and individual factors. In particular, previous literature found inner peace and maintaining relationships as the two main motivations for forgiveness. To examine how forgiveness motivations are evaluated by third party observers, in Study 1, we conducted a 2 X 2 X 2 factorial study with college students in the United States (N = 386) while utilizing vignettes in which the follow factors were manipulated: motivation (inner peace versus relationship maintenance), severity of offence (less versus more), and gender of the one who offered forgiveness in each vignette (male versus female). Then, in Study 2, we conducted the same study with a social media sample with more diverse demographic characteristics (N = 143) to replicate findings for greater generalizability. For both samples, inner peace as the motivation for offering forgiveness was evaluated as more appropriate. Also, it was found from both samples that female forgivers' forgiveness for maintaining relationships was seen as less appropriate compared to that of male forgivers. Between the two samples, there also was a divergent finding in relation to the gender of the participants who evaluated forgiveness motivations presented through the vignettes. Findings were discussed in light of the demographic characteristics of the United States samples who were predominantly female Christians, and implications for clinical practice and future research were provided.