“得寸进尺”还是“适可而止”:冒犯者得到宽恕以后的行为

ZHANG Tian

Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2016, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (1) : 116-123.

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PDF(557 KB)
Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2016, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (1) : 116-123.

  • ZHANG Tian1, 2
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Abstract

The consequences of forgiveness have two components. The first is the consequence to the victims, and the second to the offenders. From the aspect of the victims, the positive role of forgiveness has been well confirmed, but from the aspect of the offenders, there are several inconsistencies among previous studies. Some studies showed that forgiveness would deter repeated offenses, while other studies revealed that forgiveness would encourage them. The present study, which contains three sub-studies, is designed to clarify the contradiction. The present study contains three sub-studies. In study 1, 2, and 3, the influencing factors of relationship of them, offenders’ intention of injurious behavior and the possibility of revenge were used in a prisoners’ dilemma game to discuss the relationship between the victims’ forgiveness and the offenders’ behavior following the forgiveness. In the game, the participants could choose “keep mine” or “take all.” If both of them choose the former, both of them would keep their own money; if both of them choose the latter, both of them would lose their money; if one of them chooses the former and the other chooses the latter, the one who chooses the latter would gain both of their money. In the game, forgiveness was conceptualized as the participants’ behavior of returning to play cooperatively after the other player gains both of their money in the previous run. In the three studies, all the main effects of forgiveness were significant, which means that participants playing a the prisoner’s dilemma game were more likely to repeat their transgressions against unforgiving victims than forgiving victims. Apart from that, the interactions of forgiveness and relationship of them, forgiveness and offenders’ intention, and forgiveness and the possibility of revenge were also significant, which means when victims had no chance to retaliate, the victims were strangers, or the victims were injured by the participants intentionally, participants were more likely to stop their negative act after being forgiven. In conclusion, this study examines how people respond when their offenses are forgiven. Our research indicates that expression of forgiveness generally serves to deter rather than invite repeated offenses, and the relationship between the victims’ forgiveness and the offenders’ behavior following the forgiveness is influenced by factors such as the relationship of them, offenders’ intention of injurious behavior and the possibility of revenge. This study clarifies the contradiction in existing studies preliminarily, and is a reference to interpersonal interaction.

Key words

offenders / follow forgiveness / behavior

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