Forgiveness in the United States and China: Antecedents, Consequences, and Communication Style Comparisons

To better understand how culture influences the interpersonal forgiveness process, this study examined forgiveness communication in United States and Chinese relationships. Four key forgiveness antecedentssocial harmony, empathy, apology, and blamewere examined as predictors of forgiveness communication. Social harmony, counter to predictions, positively predicted direct, rather than indirect, forgiveness in Chinese relationships. Empathy, expected to be a robust predictor of forgiveness communication across cultures, was not a good predictor in either. Instead, the best predictors of forgiveness communication were offender apology and, to a lesser extent, blame. In both cultures, apology positively predicted direct and conditional forgiveness and negatively predicted nonexpression, while blame positively predicted conditional forgiveness. In both cultures, moreover, direct forgiveness negatively, and nonexpression positively, predicted relational damage. These results suggest direct forgiveness is an important component of relational repair in individualistic and collectivistic contexts. Conditional forgiveness, though unrelated to relational damage, positively predicted ongoing negative affect in Chinese and United States relationships.