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This version was published on March 1, 2008
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 34, No. 3, 407-418 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167207311534
© 2008 Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Third-Party Forgiveness: (Not) Forgiving Your Close Other's Betrayer

Jeffrey D. Green

Virginia Commonwealth University, jdgreen{at}vcu.edu

Jeni L. Burnette

University of Richmond

Jody L. Davis

Virginia Commonwealth University

Building on attribution and interdependence theories, two experiments tested the hypothesis that close friends of victims (third parties) are less forgiving than the victims themselves (first parties). In Experiment 1, individuals imagined a scenario in which either their romantic partner or the romantic partner of a close friend committed the identical relationship offense. Third parties were less forgiving than first parties, a phenomenon we termed the third-party forgiveness effect. This effect was mediated by attributions about the perpetrator's intentions and responsibility for the offense. In Experiment 2, first and third parties reported an actual offense and their subsequent unforgiving motivations. The third-party forgiveness effect was replicated and was mediated by commitment to the perpetrator. Perpetrator apology or amends to the victim increased third-party forgiveness. Future third-party research can expand interpersonal forgiveness research beyond the victim-perpetrator dyad.

Key Words: forgiveness • attribution • commitment • apology • third-party


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