News Release

Agreeable, Emotionally Stable People More Likely to Forgive Than Those Who Dwell

"I forgive you." That magical pardon by a friend after we've messed up (and we all have). On the occasions when the power to forgive rests in your lap, what are you most likely to do: Excuse the transgressor? Avoid the jerk altogether? Or, would cackle softly to yourself, purposefully tapping your fingertips together as you plot their doom?

All three could be easily digestible resolutions to any number of transgressions. A recent analysis of prominent research into the psychology of forgiveness uncovers a combination of characteristics that make a person more likely to forgive.

According to Michael E. McCullough, Southern Methodist University, forgiveness requires positive actions and takes a certain type of person to set aside the initial tendencies of avoidance and revenge that follow a negative experience brought on by another person.

McCullough wrote in a December 2001 report in Current Directions in Psychological Science that most people do experience the classic responses of avoidance and revenge after a negative transgression. These responses, he wrote, while normal and common, have negative consequences.

McCullough wrote that the essence of forgiveness is a "prosocial motivational change on the victim's part." Research has shown the disposition to forgive is correlated, positively or negatively, with a broad array of variables, including how agreeable and emotionally stable.

Those who forgive often have empathy for the transgressor. The people forgiving also tend to consider the transgressor likable, and consider explanations for the transgression as more adequate and honest.

"Thus, forgivers apparently are inclined to give their transgressors 'the benefit of the doubt,' " McCullough wrote.

According to McCullough, dwelling over the transgression typically makes matters worse, inspiring higher levels of revenge and avoidance motivation. It's also less likely that the victim will forgive the transgressor.

For more information, contact McCullough at mikem@mail.smu.edu. For a complete copy of this article contact Brian Weaver at APS, or visit the Media Center at www.psychologicalscience.org.

Current Directions in Psychological Science is a journal of the American Psychological Society and features articles by leading psychology researchers on important issues of broad public interest, ranging from how the brain works, to how social systems function, and everything in between. APS represents scientific psychology, promoting the "giving away" of psychology in the public interest.

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