Abstract
The influence of victim/offender racial similarity on victim forgiveness was investigated in a study of interpersonal transgressions. It was hypothesized that racial similarity between victim and offender would influence forgiveness only for transgressions that were less distressing for the victim. Participants were 104 adults (45 Black and 59 White) who provided a narrative description of a significant interpersonal transgression they had experienced and completed measures of transgression-related distress and forgiveness. Forgiveness was measured as positive (benevolence) and negative (revenge, avoidance) motivations toward the offender. For negative motive- tions, revenge and avoidance, there was no effect of racial similarity: more severe distress was associated with less forgiveness for all victim/offender pairings. However, the results revealed a significant interaction of victim/offender racial similarity and distress for positive motivations: Black victims reported increased benevolence towards Black offenders after more distressing transgressions. Victims in other racial combinations reported reduced benevolence for more distressing transgressions. In group favoring of Black offenders by Black victims may be an unexplored aspect of forgiveness. Little research has addressed the potential influence of context on interpersonal forgiveness, and this study suggests that these influences may play an important role.
Highlights
McCullough et al (1998) defined forgiveness in motivational terms: the victim releases negative motivations towards the offender and assumes positive motivations in the aftermath of an interpersonal transgression
Four dyads were constructed based on offender race and participants’ race: White offender/White victim (n = 53); Black offender/White victim (n = 6); White offender/Black victim (n = 8); and Black offender/Black victim (n = 37)
The racial difference variables were entered into the first block, distress in the second block to control for variability in forgiveness related to the transgression itself, and three interaction terms between racial difference and distress in the third block
Summary
McCullough et al (1998) defined forgiveness in motivational terms: the victim releases negative motivations (e.g., revenge) towards the offender and assumes positive motivations (e.g., goodwill) in the aftermath of an interpersonal transgression. When the context of racial similarity of victim to offender is taken into account, forgiveness may be altered. Related research that explores whether culturally different groups are able to forgive one another is relevant to the current study. Research following the actions of the Commission demonstrated that even in the context of profoundly severe transgressions, such as murder and torture, victims of one race were able to forgive offenders of another (Kaminer, Stein, Mbanga, & Zungu-Dirwayi, 2001; Stein et al, 2008). The current study examined forgiveness as a function of the racial similarity of the victim and the offender. Is forgiveness affected by whether the race of the victim is the same or different from that of the offender? Second, does the impact of the transgression moderate any relationship between racial difference and forgiveness? Based on previous research, the hypothesis was that more severe distress would be associated with less forgiveness
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