The Influence of Black Racial Identity on the Forgiveness of Whites (original) (raw)
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The Development of Intergroup Forgiveness in Northern Ireland
Journal of Social Issues, 2004
strive to resolve social conflict, there is growing theoretical and empirical interest in the role of intergroup forgiveness. This study examined intergroup forgiveness among 340 young adults in Northern Ireland. A short form of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory explored possible influences on propensity to forgive. All participants were Catholic and female (mean age 17.36 years), and had experienced verbal or physical injury or bereavement due to the Northern Irish political violence. Overall forgiveness levels were low in comparison with previous studies of interpersonal forgiveness but similar to previous studies of intergroup forgiveness in Northern Ireland. The strongest (negative) predictor of forgiveness was the perceived degree of hurt caused by the injury.
The Impact of Intergroup Emotions on Forgiveness in Northern Ireland
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 2007
Although prejudice researchers have mainly focused their attention on changing attitudes toward outgroups, other outcome variables may also be important. In post-confl ict reconciliation, intergroup forgiveness may play a crucial role in helping groups in confl ict put the atrocities of the past behind them . Two studies showed that both the specifi c intergroup emotion of anger and infrahumanization (the attribution of more human emotions to the ingroup than to the outgroup) predicted decreased intergroup forgiveness in Northern Ireland. Results further revealed intergroup contact as a potential means of reducing anger toward the outgroup and improving attitudes toward them. This research integrated prior interpersonal theory with intergroup literature to examine the concept of intergroup forgiveness and its predictors. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for reconciliation in confl ict societies.
Forgiving Significant Interpersonal Offenses: The Role of Victim/Offender Racial Similarity
Psychology, 2011
The influence of victim/offender racial similarity on victim forgiveness was investigated in a study of interpersonal transgressions. It was hypothesized that racial similarity between victim and offender would influence forgiveness only for transgressions that were less distressing for the victim. Participants were 104 adults (45 Black and 59 White) who provided a narrative description of a significant interpersonal transgression they had experienced and completed measures of transgression-related distress and forgiveness. Forgiveness was measured as positive (benevolence) and negative (revenge, avoidance) motivations toward the offender. For negative motivetions, revenge and avoidance, there was no effect of racial similarity: more severe distress was associated with less forgiveness for all victim/offender pairings. However, the results revealed a significant interaction of victim/offender racial similarity and distress for positive motivations: Black victims reported increased benevolence towards Black offenders after more distressing transgressions. Victims in other racial combinations reported reduced benevolence for more distressing transgressions. In group favoring of Black offenders by Black victims may be an unexplored aspect of forgiveness. Little research has addressed the potential influence of context on interpersonal forgiveness, and this study suggests that these influences may play an important role.
Predictors of Intergroup Forgiveness
The present study examines the effects of contact and common-ingroup identification on intergroup forgiveness and outgroup behavioral tendencies. A sample of Bosnian Muslims (N = 180) were asked to report their readiness to forgive the misdeeds committed by Bosnian Serbs during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A path analysis of the presumed antecedents and consequences of forgiveness revealed that frequent and good quality contact with members from the perpetrator group predicted forgiveness (positively) and desire for social distance (negatively). Moreover, the positive relationship between contact and forgiveness was mediated by empathy and trust towards the outgroup and by perceived outgroup heterogeneity. Common-ingroup identification was also found to be positively associated with forgiveness and negatively with social distance towards the outgroup. Finally, intergroup forgiveness also predicted social distance from the outgroup. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.
Forgiveness Interventions from a Multicultural Perspective: Potential Applications and Concerns
Theoretical Approaches to Multi-Cultural Positive Psychological Interventions, 2019
Forgiving others for their offenses has been shown to have considerable, wide-ranging effects for people from improved relationship satisfaction and mental health to better physical health in old age. Furthermore, evidence shows that professional interventions designed to help people forgive others are effective. However, little research has explored these findings with a multiculturally-diverse sample of individuals. In many parts of the world, there is a history of oppression of individuals who do not identify with the majority or privileged identity groups (e.g., in the United States: those who are not European-American, heterosexual, male). This oppression can result in psychological wounds and negative health outcomes that can be carried a lifetime and passed down through generations. Forgiveness might provide a measure of relief and healing for these groups. However, forgiveness might also be used in oppressive ways by privileged groups to further demoralize and control marginalized groups. Even in the hands of well-meaning individuals, forgiveness might lead to as much or more negative outcomes than positive ones for some people. This chapter provides a systematic review of the literature on forgiveness in multicultural contexts with a focus on three dimensions of identity: race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender. We examine the role of forgiveness in such contexts and how mental health providers and other professionals might (or might not) promote forgiveness in multiculturally-competent ways with individuals who hold historically marginalized identities. Recommendations and suggestions to minimize further oppression and maximize the potential of interventions designed to promote forgiveness are also provided.
The Pathway Towards Intergroup Forgiveness
The Normal Lights, 2016
Intergroup transgression is a form of relationship that highlights differences among groups. One aspect of this is emphasizing further discrepancies between behaviors of members of the ingroup and outgroup, which may develop antagonistic behaviors against one another. When intergroup characteristics become more salient, ingroup similarities become more evident as well (Turner, 2012) which will consequently inflate the chance of advancing the intergroup conflict. The common ingroup identity theory (Dovidio, 2012) proposes that re-categorization can be an approach by which this conflict can be resolved. This re-categorization rests on the assumption that if a superordinate identity will be identified, the ingroup and outgroup members will behave positively towards one another. This study made use of a 2 x 2 between sample design with the first factor consisting of priming and with the second factor as socio-historical experience. Sixty-nine (69) respondents participa...
Measuring Intergroup Forgiveness: The Enright Group Forgiveness Inventory
Peace and Conflict Studies
Until recently, researchers operationalized and measured the psychological construct of forgiveness at the individual, rather than the group, level. Social psychologists started applying forgiveness to groups and examining the role intergroup forgiveness may have in conflict resolution and peace efforts. Initial attempts to define and measure forgiveness at the group level either assumed individual and group capacities were the same, or insufficiently described what intergroup forgiveness meant. We developed a new measure of intergroup forgiveness, and a novel group administration process, that operationalized the construct in a philosophically coherent way. Our conceptualization of intergroup forgiveness was rooted in what groups, as opposed to the individuals who compose them, have the capacity to do. We collected data on the psychometric properties of the measure with 595 participants in three different geographic and cultural settings. We assessed the factor structure, internal ...
Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 2014
The relationship between in-group identification, intergroup forgiveness, and collective guilt has been established, with results suggesting differences between Catholic and Protestant adults. However, the literature lacks investigation observing these psychological elements in adolescents, particularly in the context of the Northern Irish ethnopolitical conflict. The aim of this study was to examine relationships between in-group identification, intergroup forgiveness, and collective guilt by comparing Catholic and Protestant adolescents and adults affiliated with the Ulster Project, a cross-community organization in Northern Ireland. Results revealed a significant main effect of age on intergroup forgiveness, with adults scoring significantly higher on a 6-item scale adapted from Myers, Hewstone, and Cairns, (2009) than adolescents. Collective guilt was a significant predictor of intergroup forgiveness across community background and age. There were no significant interaction effects when entered in the model separately or pooled. Further research investigating the developmental, psychological, and social differences existing between Northern Irish adolescents and adults during their transition from conflict to peace is needed.