Johan C. Karremans

Forgiveness, physiological reactivity and health: The role of anger

Research has revealed that forgiveness may have beneficial effects for the forgivers health. The present research explored whether reductions in anger underlie such effects, or whether forgiveness has beneficial health effects above and beyond the effects of decreasing anger. State and trait forgiveness were examined, along with styles of anger expression, for their relationship to physiological responses during recalled betrayal, and to self-reported health indices. State and trait forgiveness were negatively associated with anger-out; however, with one exception, no other styles of anger expression were linked with forgiveness. Both forgiveness and anger-out were associated with systolic blood pressure, heart rate and rate-pressure product. Partial correlations revealed that trait forgiveness accounted for significant variance in mean systolic blood pressure and rate-pressure product, and state forgiveness predicted mean heart rate, even after gender and anger-out had been controlled. On the other hand, anger-out fully mediated the trait forgiveness-heart rate and state forgiveness-rate pressure product effects. Trait forgiveness was significantly associated with fewer medications and less alcohol use, lower blood pressure and rate pressure product; state forgiveness was significantly associated with lower heart rate and fewer physical symptoms. Neither of these sets of findings were the result of decreased levels of anger-out being associated with forgiveness. These findings have important theoretical implications regarding the forgiveness-health link, suggesting that the benefits of forgiveness extend beyond the dissipation of anger.

What It Takes to Forgive: When and Why Executive Functioning Facilitates Forgiveness

To establish what it takes to forgive, the present research focused on the cognitive underpinnings of the forgiveness process. We conducted four studies that examined and supported the prediction that executive functioning (a set of cognitive control processes) facilitates forgiveness. First, a correlational study revealed a positive relation between executive functioning and dispositional forgiveness (Study 1). Second, a longitudinal study demonstrated that executive functioning predicts the development of forgiveness over a period of 5 weeks after the offense (Study 2). Finally, two experiments examined when and why executive functioning facilitates forgiveness. Specifically, and in line with predictions, Studies 3 and 4 showed that executive functioning facilitates forgiveness only in the case of relatively severe (as compared with mild) offenses. Furthermore, Study 4 provided evidence for a psychological mechanism underlying the relation between executive functioning and forgiveness by demonstrating the mediating role of rumination about the offense. Implications of these findings for the literature on forgiveness and the role of executive functioning in interpersonal relationships more generally are discussed.

Forgiveness and Its Associations With Prosocial Thinking, Feeling, and Doing Beyond the Relationship With the Offender

Past research has revealed that forgiveness promotes prosocial cognition, feeling, and behavior toward the offender. The present research extends this research by examining whether forgiveness may spill over beyond the relationship with the offender, promoting generalized prosocial orientation. Consistent with hypotheses, three studies revealed that forgiveness compared to unforgiveness is generally associated with higher levels of a generalized prosocial orientation, as indicated by higher levels of a we frame of mind (as indicated by a greater use of first-person plural pronouns, e.g., we, us, in a language task) and greater feelings of relatedness toward others in general. Moreover, forgiveness (vs. unforgiveness) was even associated with greater probability of donating to charity and greater willingness to engage in volunteering. Finally, the authors found that unforgiveness reduces tendencies toward generalized prosocial orientation, whereas forgiveness restores generalized prosocial orientation to baseline levels within the relationship.

Mimicking Attractive Opposite-Sex Others: The Role of Romantic Relationship Status

Based on the recent literature indicating that nonconscious behavioral mimicry is partly goal directed, three studies examined, and supported, the hypothesis that people who are involved in a romantic relationship nonconsciously mimic an attractive opposite-sex other to a lesser extent than people not involved in a relationship. Moreover, Studies 2 and 3 revealed that romantically involved persons tended to mimic an attractive alternative less to the extent that they were more close to their current partner. Finally, Study 3 provided preliminary support for a potential underlying mechanism, revealing that the effect of relationship status on level of mimicry displayed toward an opposite-sex other is mediated by perceived attractiveness of the opposite-sex other. The present findings suggest that behavioral mimicry serves an implicit self-regulatory function in relationship maintenance. Implications for both the literature on relationship maintenance and the literature on behavioral mimicry are discussed.

Free Will and Punishment A Mechanistic View of Human Nature Reduces Retribution

If free-will beliefs support attributions of moral responsibility, then reducing these beliefs should make people less retributive in their attitudes about punishment. Four studies tested this prediction using both measured and manipulated free-will beliefs. Study 1 found that people with weaker free-will beliefs endorsed less retributive, but not consequentialist, attitudes regarding punishment of criminals. Subsequent studies showed that learning about the neural bases of human behavior, through either lab-based manipulations or attendance at an undergraduate neuroscience course, reduced people’s support for retributive punishment (Studies 2–4). These results illustrate that exposure to debates about free will and to scientific research on the neural basis of behavior may have consequences for attributions of moral responsibility.

Having the Power to Forgive: When the Experience of Power Increases Interpersonal Forgiveness

The present research examined the association between power, defined in terms of experienced control over outcomes and resources in a relationship, and interpersonal forgiveness. Based on recent findings in the literature suggesting that power is associated with goal directedness, it was hypothesized that high levels of experienced power should facilitate forgiveness, in particular in relationships of strong commitment. The results of three studies, using both correlational and experimental designs, supported this prediction: Power was positively associated with forgiveness, but this effect was stronger in relationships of strong (rather than weak) commitment. This pattern of results was observed for both the inclination to forgive hypothetical offenses and actual forgiveness regarding a past offense. Study 3 provided some preliminary evidence for the role of rumination in the link between power and forgiveness. Implications of these findings for the literature on forgiveness and the literature on social power are discussed.

Romantic relationship status biases memory of faces of attractive opposite-sex others : evidence from a reverse-correlation paradigm

Previous research has demonstrated that, presumably as a way to protect ones current romantic relationship, individuals involved in a heterosexual romantic relationship tend to give lower attractiveness ratings to attractive opposite-sex others as compared to uninvolved individuals (i.e., the derogation effect). The present study importantly extends this research by examining whether romantic relationship status actually biases memory for the facial appearance of attractive (vs. unattractive) mates. To address this issue, we used a reverse-correlation technique (Mangini & Biederman, 2004), originally developed to get a visual approximation of an individuals internal representation of a target category or person. In line with the derogation effect, results demonstrated that romantically involved (vs. uninvolved) individuals indeed held a less attractive memory of a previously encountered attractive mates face. Interestingly, they also held a more attractive memory of an unattractive mates face as compared to uninvolved individuals. This latter finding may suggest that romantically involved (as compared to uninvolved) individuals differentiate opposite-sex others along the attractiveness dimension less.

Maintaining Harmony Across the Globe: The Cross-Cultural Association Between Closeness and Interpersonal Forgiveness

Although previous research shows that relationship closeness plays a central role in an individual’s willingness to forgive an offender, it is based exclusively on data from Western, individualistic cultures. In the current study, the authors examined the association between relationship closeness and forgiveness across six countries, including both traditionally individualistic—Italy, the Netherlands, the United States—and collectivistic cultures—Japan, China (and one country, Turkey, with both individualistic and collectivistic features). Results demonstrated that, cross-culturally, there was a robust positive association between closeness toward the offender and level of forgiveness, both for trait-forgiveness and offense-specific forgiveness. However, this association was weaker in the collectivistic countries, which may suggest that strong norms in these countries to maintain social harmony may partly weaken the role of closeness in forgiveness. Overall, the present findings are discussed in terms of the possible evolutionary origins of forgiveness and the role of individualism/collectivism in forgiveness.

Secure attachment partners attenuate neural responses to social exclusion: An fMRI investigation

Research has shown that social exclusion has devastating psychological, physiological, and behavioral consequences. However, little is known about possible ways to shield individuals from the detrimental effects of social exclusion. The present study, in which participants were excluded during a ball-tossing game, examined whether (reminders of) secure attachment relationships could attenuate neurophysiological pain- and stress-related responses to social exclusion. Social exclusion was associated with activation in brain areas implicated in the regulation and experience of social distress, including areas in the lateral and medial prefrontal cortex, ventral anterior cingulate cortex, and hypothalamus. However, less activation in these areas was found to the extent that participants felt more securely attached to their attachment figure. Moreover, the psychological presence (i.e., salience) of an attachment figure attenuated hypothalamus activation during episodes of social exclusion, thereby providing insight into the neural mechanisms by which attachment relationships may help in coping with social stress.

The role of forgiveness in shifting from “Me” to “We”

The present research was designed to examine the link between forgiveness and cognitive interdependence, the mental state characterized by pluralistic representations of the self-in-relationship (Agnew, Van Lange, Rusbult, & Langston, 1998). Consistent with hypotheses, results revealed that forgiveness was associated with greater perceived overlap between self and partner in a graphical measure of Inclusion of the Other in the Self scale (IOS; Aron, Aron, Tudor, & Nelson, 1991, Study 1), and greater use of first-person plural pronouns (i.e., we, us, our, and ours) in open-ended descriptions of their relationships (Study 2). Forgiveness accounted for cognitive interdependence, while controlling for several variables, including relational commitment and mood. Implications of the present results for relationship functioning and well-being are discussed.