Moving On or Deciding to Let Go? A Pathway Exploring the Relationship between Emotional and Decisional Forgiveness and Intentional Forgetting

Autor/inn/en	Noreen, Saima; MacLeod, Malcolm D.
Titel	Moving On or Deciding to Let Go? A Pathway Exploring the Relationship between Emotional and Decisional Forgiveness and Intentional Forgetting
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 47 (2021) 2, S.295-315 (21 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Noreen, Saima)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0278-7393
DOI	10.1037/xlm0000948
Schlagwörter	Psychological Patterns; Decision Making; Memory; Affective Behavior; Conflict Resolution; Intention + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Gedächtnis; Affective disturbance; Active behaviour; Affektive Störung; Conflict solving; Konfliktlösung; Konfliktregelung
Abstract	We report 3 empirical studies that represent the first systematic attempt to explore the relationship between emotional and decisional forgiveness and intentional forgetting. On this basis, we propose a model that provides a credible explanation for the relationship between forgiveness and forgetting. Specifically, we propose that engaging in emotional forgiveness promotes the psychological distancing of an offense, such that victims construe the offense at a higher and more abstract level. This high-level construal, in turn, promotes larger intentional forgetting effects, which, in turn, promote increased emotional forgiveness. Our studies found that participants in an emotional forgiveness manipulation reported increased psychological distance and recalled more high-level construals than did participants in either a decisional or no-forgiveness manipulation (Study 1). Using the list-method directed forgetting paradigm, we found that participants in an emotional forgiveness manipulation showed larger forgetting effects for both offense-relevant and -irrelevant information using both hypothetical (Study 2) and real-life (Study 3) moral transgressions compared with participants in either decisional or no-forgiveness manipulations. The potential implications of these findings for coping with unpleasant episodes in our lives are considered. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01