Apology and Restitution: The Psychophysiology of Forgiveness After Accountable Relational Repair Responses.

Lindsey Root Luna,Charlotte V O Witvliet,Jo-Ann Tsang,Everett L Worthington

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00284

Lindsey Root Luna, Charlotte V O Witvliet + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00284

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Abstract

Apology and restitution each represents wrongdoers’ accountable repair responses that have promoted victims’ self-reported empathy and forgiveness in crime scenario research. The current study measured emotional and stress-related dependent variables including physiological measures, to illuminate the links between predictors of forgiveness and health-relevant side effects. Specifically, we tested the independent and interactive effects of apology and restitution on forgiveness, emotion self-reports, and facial responses, as well as cardiac measures associated with stress in 32 males and 29 females. Apology and restitution each independently increased empathy, forgiveness, gratitude, and positive emotions, while reducing unforgiveness, negative emotion, and muscle activity above the brow (corrugator supercilii, CS). The presence of a thorough apology—regardless of whether restitution was present—also calmed heart rate, reduced rate pressure products indicative of cardiac stress, and decreased muscle activity under the eye (orbicularis oculi, OO). Interactions pointed to the more potent effects of restitution compared to apology for reducing unforgiveness and anger, while elevating positivity and gratitude. The findings point to distinctive impacts of apology and restitution as factors that foster forgiveness, along with emotional and embodied changes relevant to health.

Highlights

An emerging literature provides evidence that victims are more forgiving if they receive an apology or restitution (Carlisle et al, 2012; Witvliet et al, 2020) or both in combination (Kiefer et al, 2020)
We verified that participants randomly assigned to each counterbalanced condition order did not differ in their unforgiving, empathic, and positive responses to the offender after reading the crime incident
Participants provided ratings, with all participants indicating that they could imagine the crime scenario happening to them at least a little, 38% reporting that the scenario reminded them of a situation in their lives, and 21% reporting having personally experienced the crime in real life

Summary

Introduction

An emerging literature provides evidence that victims are more forgiving if they receive an apology (see Fehr et al, 2010) or restitution (Carlisle et al, 2012; Witvliet et al, 2020) or both in combination (Kiefer et al, 2020). Whereastransgressions are violations of expectations for responsible interpersonal behavior (e.g., that a person will not cause harm), apology may signal the offender’s accountable responsibility-taking for wrongdoing against the victim, and restitution may represent tangible and quantifiable recompense for the injustice (Witvliet et al, 2020). In this way, apology and restitution may represent relational and restorative responses that reduce the gap a victim perceives between injustice experienced and the justice desired (see Witvliet et al, 2008b). Reducing this injustice gap is associated with reductions in negative and aroused affect such as fear, sadness, and anger that are part of unforgiveness (Exline et al, 2003; Worthington, 2006; Witvliet et al, 2008b; Davis et al, 2016)—while elevating positive and prosocial responses of gratitude, empathy, and forgiveness with associated emotional and physiological change (e.g., Witvliet et al, 2010, 2019)

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