Forgiveness and Reparation in Chile: The Role of Cognitive and Emotional Intergroup Antecedents

Abstract

In this study our focus was on forgiveness and reparation as 2 major manifestations of the Chilean political reconciliation processes initiated after the recovery of democracy in 1990. Beyond the conceptual differences between forgiveness and reparation, this study analyzes the differential relations they have with important cognitive (victimization, demand for outgroup remorse, and demand for truth) and emotional (anger, collective guilt, and shame) variables involved in the reconciliation process. Respondents were university students who identified with the 2 major political groups originally involved in the conflict (N right wing = 225; N left wing = 264). Overall, results confirmed that forgiveness and reparation were positively correlated only in the case of the group associated with perpetrating political repression. Forgiveness was predicted mainly by the emotional factors (collective anger and guilt) whereas reparation was predicted by a combination of cognitive and emotional factors.