Expressions of Emotion in Intergroup Apologies and Forgiveness: The moderating role of percieved perpetrator morality

Abstract

Apologies for intergroup harm have become increasingly common. Despite this, the evidence for the effectiveness of intergroup apologies in promoting forgiveness is mixed. One reason for the mixed findings across studies may be that victim groups attempt to infer the emotions perpetrators are experiencing. The emotions perpetrators express may play an important role in communicating the perpetrator group's motivation for apologizing. Three studies investigated how expressions of emotions in an intergroup apology influenced forgiveness of the perpetrator group. The perceived morality of the perpetrator group emerged as an important moderator of the relationship between the emotion expressed in an apology and forgiveness. When the emotion expressed in an apology is inconsistent with the perceived morality of perpetrators, forgiveness decreased. For example, when perpetrators were moral and expressed guilt (consistency between an emotion and morality), forgiveness was higher than when perpetrators were immoral and expressed guilt (inconsistency between emotion and morality). Implications for research and policy concerning when intergroup apologies can promote reconciliation are discussed.