EMPATHY, SELF-AFFIRMATION, AND FORGIVENESS: THE MODERATING ROLES OF GENDER AND ENTITLEMENT

How might empathic processing and self-affirmation influence responses to transgression? After undergraduates (84 men, 83 women) recalled situations when they were hurt or offended, they were randomly assigned to either recall a similar offense of their own, consider the offender's perspective, recall a self-affirming situation, or recall a typical week (control). The similar offense and perspective-taking conditions prompted higher empathy but also more negative emotions (guilt, sadness, anger) than the other two conditions. As predicted, the similar offense and perspective-taking conditions yielded lower vengefulness and expressed hostility than the control and self-affirmation conditions-but only for men. Self-affirmation did not affect forgiveness for men or women, although it did promote positive emotion and feelings of strength. Psychological entitlement emerged as an important moderator, strongly predicting unforgiving responses within the self-affirmation condition.