The Effect of Significant Other`s Advice on Forgiveness in Chinese Culture

Abstract

We investigated the possible impact of significant others on Chinese people`s decision to forgive. Past research has mainly focused on the effect of the victim`s attributions regarding the offender`s motivation on the decision to forgive. We suggested that because Chinese people have an interdependent self-construal that emphasizes relationalism, a significant other`s opinion may play an important role in the decision to forgive. In Experiment 1, 113 participants were asked to imagine that they were victims in 3 types of hurt scenarios caused by their partner (i.e., money loss, relationship damage, and involving other people). They were then randomly assigned to one of the following advice situations: Advice from parents, from a good friend, or the no-advice control condition. The degree of forgiveness was submitted to an advice condition by hurt scenario ANOVA, with the hurt scenarios as a within-subjects variable. We found that advice from a good friend worked especially well in the relationship damage and involving other people situations. Participants reported a significantly higher level of forgiveness in those conditions than in the no-advice condition. Experiment 2 aimed at examining the nature of the advice from the significant other. A total of 88 participants were asked to write down the most harmful interaction they had previously experienced, and then were randomly assigned to a 3 (bogus forgiveness inclination feedback: already forgiven/not forgiven yet/control)×2 (advice condition: false forgiveness advice from a good friend/no advice) between-subjects design. The result indicated that instead of facilitating the decision to forgive, the significant other played a role in deciding whether or not to forgive. That is, the decision to forgive could be altered by the advice of the significant other.

本研究目的在探討關係他人在華人寬恕中扮演的角色。過往文獻在探討寬恕的影響因素上，未考量文化特色，也多聚焦在傷害者與被害者身上，我們認為，重視關係的華人，在探討寬恕時應考量傷害事件之外的關係他人影響。研究一主要從不同的關係他人與事件性質切入，探討個人在不同的傷害情境時，關係他人的影響力為何。113名實驗參與者隨機分派至3（事件性質：物質∕相處∕牽涉他者）×3（關係他人意見：好友∕長輩家人∕無意見）混合設計。以寬恕程度為依變項進行二因子分析，結果顯示關係他人意見與事件性質有交互作用，個人在面對具客觀判斷的物質性質事件時，較不會受關係他人的意見影響，但在有關情感傷害的相處事件及牽涉他者的事件上，個人則明顯受到好友意見的影響。我們認為這或許是因為好友與我們價值觀相近，因此他們的意見可能更具參考的價值。研究二以回憶自身傷害事件來增加實驗結果之合理性，並再深入釐清關係他人影響力的本質，88位實驗參與者隨機分派至3（寬恕傾向：已寬恕∕未寬恕∕無）×2（好友寬恕建議：有∕無意見）完全受試者間設計，交互作用效果顯示，關係他人在個人寬恕決定中扮演著主導性而非助長性的影響，原先寬恕傾向不同的個體，會順應關係他人的意見來調整原先的寬恕決定。