Cross-cultural similarities and differences in motives to forgive: A comparison between and within cultures

Gender and age differences in forgivingness in Italian and Polish samples

This study explores gender and age differences in forgivingness using the crosscultural and stress-and-coping perspective. Polish and Italian versions of the Heartland Forgiveness scale (HFS) were used. The sample consisted of 1957 individuals aged 18–80 (61% females and 39% males). A 3-way between groups ANOVA was used to examine the main effects and interactions of country, age and gender as they relate to total HFS score. Post-hoc analyses were performed where appropriate. The results revealed that Polish and Italian respondents did not differ in the level of the general tendency to forgive. Gender differences in trait forgiveness were reported in whole sample and in Italian subsample, showing males to be more forgiving than females. Further, our results for all study participants, in Polish subsample and among Italian males showed that older adults were more forgiving than young respondents, which is consistent with the previous findings showing an increase in forgivingness with age.

Does forgiving in a collectivistic culture affect only decisions to forgive and not emotions? REACH forgiveness collectivistic in Indonesia

According to some theorising, in collectivistic societies, forgiveness is mainly enacted to maintain relationships, not engender emotional transformation. This present study was designed to explore whether forgiveness affects decisional and emotional forgiveness in Indonesia, a country categorised as collectivistic. The evidence-based REACH Forgiveness psychoeducational group intervention was adapted to collectivistic culture (REACH forgiveness collectivistic; REACH-FC), and its efficacy was assessed in a randomised controlled trial. Undergraduates in Indonesia (N = 97; 24 male; 73 female; ages 16-21) were randomly assigned within a 2 × 3(S) quasi-experimental repeated-measures design comparing immediate treatment (IT) and waiting list (WL) conditions [Condition (IT, WL) × Time ([S] 3 time points). Harmonious value, a personality variable assessing the strength of participants' desire for group harmony, was the covariate. The condition × time (S) interactions for both decisional and emotional forgiveness were significant, challenging some previous literature. Clearly, not all forms of collectivism have similar effects when individuals and communities deal with transgressions.