Individual differences in apology acceptance and forgiveness: the influence of handedness

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the current study was to determine if the relationship between interhemispheric interaction and cognitive flexibility extends to explanations of forgiveness and apology acceptance. A growing body of research indicates that consistency of handedness may be reflective of an individual’s degree of interhemispheric interaction and access to processes of the right hemisphere. As such, individual differences in processing that require interhemispheric interaction, such as belief updating, are associated with consistency of handedness. Participants completed the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI) and read descriptions of interpersonal transgressions, then rated their willingness to forgive before and after an apology was offered. There was a main effect such that the presence of apology increased forgiveness. However, inconsistent handedness was associated with greater forgiveness prior to apology compared to consistent handedness. A second study was conducted to determine if the individual differences in forgiveness were mediated by different dimensions of empathy (personal distress, perspective taking, empathic concern and fantasy). Participants completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, the Forgiveness Scale and the EHI. Results revealed those with inconsistent handedness who scored lower on personal distress reported decreased negative thoughts about transgressors compared to those with consistent handedness.

KEYWORDS:

• Apology
• cognitive flexibility
• forgiveness
• handedness
• empathy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.