The mediating role of perceptual validation in the repentance-forgiveness process

This research focuses on one potential mechanism by which repentance leads to forgiveness. Two studies demonstrate that repentance leads to increased perceptual validation (social verification that one is correct about one's interpretation of an event) and, ultimately, more forgiveness. Participants reported more perceptual validation when they received repentance than when they did not (Studies 1 and 2), particularly repentance that included an acknowledgement of the transgression and the harm done (Study 2). In addition, in Study 2, acknowledgement of the transgression by a third party also had a positive effect on forgiveness. There was evidence that perceptual validation mediated the repentance-forgiveness relationship. These findings suggest that repentance facilitates forgiveness, at least in part, because it makes victims feel validated.     

感知社会善念对信任修复的促进：社会距离与时间距离的调节作用

从信任修复的时间阶段模型来看,以往研究主要探讨了信任违背发生后的修复策略及效果,而鲜有研究从违背前的视角对此展开探索。为检验社会善念能否作为信任修复的‘事前’策略及其修复效果的边界条件,本研究采用Somi范式操纵违背方的社会善念,通过让信任方完成信任博弈游戏来考察其感知到的社会善念对信任修复的效果及社会距离与时间距离在其中发挥的调节作用。实验1结果表明,感知社会善念有助于促进受损信任的修复,感知高(vs.低)社会善念的被试修复效果更好;实验2发现社会距离调节了感知社会善念对信任修复的影响,面对社会距离远(vs.近)者的信任违背,感知到高社会善念的被试有更好的修复效果;实验3不仅再次验证了前两个实验的发现,还进一步发现时间距离调节了社会距离与感知社会善念对信任修复的影响,即当社会距离远的违背方回应时间距离短时,感知高社会善念的被试修复效果更好,当社会距离近的违背方回应时间距离长时,感知高社会善念的被试修复效果更好。由此可见,违背发生前信任方感知到违背方的社会善念能在一定程度上修复受损信任,但其效果受到社会距离与时间距离的制约。这些发现对未来探讨信任修复的事前策略及社会善念理论的应用均有一定启示意义。     

Trust recovery following voluntary or forced financial compensations in the trust game: The role of trait forgiveness

One of the major challenges that actors in economic exchange relations face today concerns dealing with defection and overcoming the erosion of trust and cooperation that may result from a transgression. As transgressions in these relations usually entail a monetary loss for the victim, a common restorative approach involves providing a financial compensation to the victim. This research examines whether compensations that were provided voluntarily (rather than forced) would promote more trust among victims. In contrast to standard economic theory, we predict that individual differences exist that determine the degree to which victims are susceptible towards information about how the financial compensation is delivered in their decision to trust and cooperate again. Experimental data from a trust game confirmed our hypotheses by showing that whereas receiving a voluntary compensation from the transgressor communicates more repentance to victims than when this compensation was imposed, particularly people with a low tendency to forgive discount this repentance in their decision to trust again.     

A paradox of support seeking and rejection among the stigmatized

Individuals perceiving stigma may be unwilling to seek support directly. Instead, they may use indirect strategies due to fear of rejection. Ironically, indirect seeking leads to unsupportive network responses (i.e., rejection). In Study 1, data collected from structured interviews of a sample of U.S. women in poverty (N= 116) showed that perceived poverty‐related stigma was related to increased fear of rejection, which in turn partially mediated perceived stigma and indirect seeking. In Study 2, data gathered from structured interviews of a sample of U.S. abused women (N= 177) revealed that perceived abuse‐related stigma was linked to increased indirect seeking, which in turn related to increased unsupportive network responses. By contrast, direct support seeking was related to increased supportive and decreased unsupportive responses.     

Predictors of Attitudes Towards the Construction of a Waste Incinerator: Two Case Studies1

This investigation examined the predictors of the acceptance of waste incineration facilities. A survey was conducted of a random sample of the residents in two sites where an incinerator was planned (450 participants in Study 1 and 300 in Study 2). Attitudes towards the incinerator were mainly predicted by the perception of the risks as dread, positive expectancies about the project, trust in social actors involved in the process, perceived distributive justice, and distance of residence to the site. The relationship between distance of residence and attitude towards the incinerator was partially mediated by perceived risk, perceived justice, and expectations. As expected from the elaboration likelihood model, substantive peripheral cues were better predictors of attitudes for involved than for noninvolved dwellers.     

Interpersonal consequences of forgiveness: Does forgiveness deter or encourage repeat offenses?

Benefits of forgiveness have been well documented, but past research has not directly addressed the crucial question of whether forgiveness deters or invites repeat transgressions. Our research indicates that expressing forgiveness typically discourages future offenses. In Study 1, participants playing a form of the prisoner’s dilemma game were more likely to repeat their transgressions against unforgiving victims than forgiving victims, especially when victims had no chance to retaliate. In response to a hypothetical scenario presented in Study 2, participants reported that they would be less likely to risk offending someone for a second time if that person had forgiven their first offense. In Study 3, participants’ autobiographical recollections of their prior transgressions revealed that receiving forgiveness predicted higher repentance motivation.     

信任以稀为贵?下属感知被信任如何以及何时导致反生产行为

感知被信任是信任相关研究中的重要组成部分, 近年来逐渐受到研究者们的重视。以往研究大多认为, 下属感知被上司信任对下属自身以及组织整体都会产生积极影响, 却忽视了其潜在的负面影响。基于自我评价理论, 本文采用实验研究(研究1、2)与多时间点、多源的实地问卷调查(研究3), 探讨了下属感知被信任的潜在黑暗面。研究结果表明：下属感知被信任会引发下属心理权利感, 进而增加其反生产行为, 下属感知到信任的稀缺性在这一过程中起调节作用。具体来说, 当下属感知到信任的稀缺性较高时, 下属感知被信任通过心理权利感影响其反生产行为的正向中介效应显著; 而当下属感知到信任的稀缺性较低时, 上述中介效应不显著。本研究发现了感知被信任的潜在负面影响, 并明确了其对反生产行为的作用机制与边界条件, 为感知被信任相关研究提供了更加全面、辩证的研究视角, 同时也扩展了心理权利感和反生产行为的相关研究。     

The Effect of Preemptive Forgiveness and a Transgressor's Responsibility on Shame,Motivation to Reconcile,and Repentance

The primary aim of this research was to examine the effects of an injured party's preemptive forgiveness (grudge, none, explicit, implied) on a transgressor's repentance. We also explored the moderating role of a transgressor's judgment of responsibility (low, high) and the mediating role that feelings of shame and motivation to reconcile play in the preemptive forgiveness → repentance process. The results of two experiments showed that different types of forgiveness had different effects on repentance and prosocial conduct. In Study 2, we extended these findings by examining the moderating role that judgment of responsibility plays and the mediating role that shame and motivation to reconcile plays in the preemptive forgiveness → repentance process. These experiments show that, relative to holding a grudge, no forgiveness, and explicit forgiveness, the most effective preemptive prosocial strategy was implied forgiveness, particularly when judgments of responsibility were low. In addition, a stepdown analysis suggests that the effects of forgiveness and responsibility on repentance are mediated by a transgressor's shame and motivation to reconcile.     

The reciprocal cycle of self‐concealment and trust in romantic relationships

We propose that perceived partner concealment, self‐concealment from one's partner (i.e., keeping secrets from one's partner), and trust in one's partner form a reciprocal cycle in romantic relationships. In Study 1, participants in a romantic relationship (N = 94) completed a two‐time point survey within a span of 8 to 10 weeks. Results revealed that perceived partner concealment was associated with a loss of trust in partner, and low trust in partner was associated with an increase in self‐concealment from one's partner. Furthermore, the association between perceived partner concealment and self‐concealment from one's partner was mediated by trust. In Study 2, couples (N = 50) completed daily records for 14 consecutive days. Multilevel analyses indicated that on the days the individuals reported more self‐concealment, their partners reported lower trust in them. Moreover, on the days the partners reported lower trust, the partners also reported higher self‐concealment. These findings suggest that self‐concealment in romantic relationships can create a reciprocal cycle that involves loss of trust and more self‐concealment between partners, which would slowly deteriorate the relationship well‐being. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coping With the Less Interesting Aspects of Training: Toward a Model of Interest and Motivation Enhancement in Individual Sports

Kendzierski and Sheffield (2000) found that exerciser schematics made less stable attributions for an exercise lapse than did aschematics; this could occur because they either perceived similar causes differently or encountered less stable obstacles to exercise. This research tested the perceptual explanation by examining the stability of the attributions that undergraduates who did versus did not have an exerciser self-schema made for specified lapses that they imagined as having happened to themselves versus another student. It also explored whether exerciser self-schema status was associated with differences in attributions of personal and external control. Consistent with the perceptual explanation, students with an exerciser self-schema made less stable attributions for a lapse imagined as having happened to themselves than did students without an exerciser self-schema, but equally stable attributions for a lapse imagined as having happened to another. Moreover, a content analysis revealed that the 2 groups cited similar causes for their own imagined lapses, providing further evidence that the difference in perceived stability was due to the groups perceiving similar causes differently. Exerciser self-schema status was not associated with attributions of either personal control or (in any clear way) external control.     

Reducing exposure to trust-related risks to avoid self-blame

Three studies demonstrated that anticipated self-blame elicits more conservative decisions about risks that require trust than about otherwise economically identical risks that do not. Participants were more reluctant to invest money in a company when it risked failure due to fraud versus low consumer demand (Study 1), and to risk points in an economic game when its outcome ostensibly depended on another participant versus chance (Studies 2 and 3). These effects were mediated by anticipated self-blame (Studies 1 and 2). Additionally, participants who actually experienced a loss felt more self-blame when the loss violated their trust and became even more conservative in subsequent risk decisions relative to participants whose loss did not violate their trust (Study 3). No support emerged for alternative explanations based on either the perceived probability of incurring a loss or an aversion to losses that profit others. The motivational power of trust violations is discussed.     

亲亲为大，亲贤仍重：亲疏关系、人情取向对人际信任的影响

本文基于以往理论,提炼出人际交往中影响信任的两大因素：关系因素和个人特质因素,通过两个情景启动实验尝试探索亲疏关系、可信赖特质（能力、善意和诚信）对人际信任的影响机制及其作用的边界条件。结果发现：亲疏关系除了可以直接预测人际信任之外,还可以通过感知被信任者的可信赖特质产生间接影响。此外,个体的人情取向可以分别调节亲疏关系对感知被信任者的能力、诚信特质的效应和通过感知被信任者的能力、诚信特质影响人际信任的间接效应,并且作用的主要对象是关系网中的熟人。本研究对理解当代中国社会在多元文化交融下的人际信任具有重要意义。     

I feel you feel what I feel: Perceived perspective‐taking promotes victims' conciliatory attitudes because of inferred emotions in the offender

In the context of bullying in a nursing workplace, we test the argument that an offender's perspective‐taking promotes victim conciliation, mediated by perceived perspective‐taking, that is, the extent to which the victim perceives the offender as taking their perspective. Perceived perspective‐taking facilitates the attribution of moral emotions (remorse, etc.) to the offender, thereby promoting conciliatory victim responses. However, perceived perspective‐taking would be qualified by the extent to which the severity of consequences expressed in the offender's perspective‐taking matches or surpasses the severity for the victim. In Studies 1 and 2 (Ns = 141 and 122, respectively), victims indicated greater trust and/or forgiveness when the offender had taken the victim's perspective. This was sequentially mediated by perceived perspective‐taking and victim's inference that the offender had felt moral emotions. As predicted, in Study 2 (but not Study 1), severity of consequences qualified victims' perceived perspective‐taking. Study 3 (N = 138) examined three potential mechanisms for the moderation by severity. Victims attributed greater perspective‐taking to the offender when the consequences were less severe than voiced by the offender, suggesting victims' appreciation of the offender's generous appraisal. Attributions of perspective‐taking and of moral emotions to the offender may play an important role in reconciliation processes. Key outcome: To the extent that victims perceive the offender as taking their perspective (perceived perspective‐taking), they infer that the offender feels more moral emotions, prompting victims to be more conciliatory. Perceived perspective‐taking benefits from the offender over‐stating the consequences to the victim.     

Explaining the procedural justice–perceived legitimacy relationship: Relying on relational concern or instrumental concern?

People can extract relational information (i.e., relational concern) as well as instrumental information (i.e., instrumental concern) from decision‐making procedures. Thus, both instrumental and relational concerns are assumed to influence the procedural justice–perceived legitimacy relationship. Drawing from social exchange theory, the different kinds of concerns may lead to form different exchange relationships (social exchange relationship vs. economic relationship), which can be indicated by two forms of trust (affect‐based trust vs. cognition‐based trust). We built a model of trust mediation in which procedural justice predicted affect‐based and cognition‐based trust. Further, we also tested the hypothesis that high (compared with low) group identification individuals are more likely to rely on relational concern to construct procedural justice and judge legitimacy of authority, because they use procedural fairness information to infer the quality of their relationships with the authority. The results of an experiment (Study 1) demonstrated that both affect‐based trust and cognition‐based trust mediated the procedural justice–perceived legitimacy relationship. Moreover, a field study (Study 2) showed that affect‐based trust mediated the relationship between procedural justice and perceived legitimacy primarily among individuals with high group identification whereas cognition‐based trust mediated this relationship primarily among those with low group identification.     

When more blame is better than less: The implications of internal vs. external attributions for the repair of trust after a competence- vs. integrity-based trust violation

This study examines the trust repair implications of apologizing with an internal vs. external attribution after a competence- vs. integrity-based trust violation. By considering theory regarding differences in the perceived diagnosticity of information about competence vs. integrity, we note that the conditions where external attributions would be more necessary for mitigating one’s blame are precisely the conditions where such external attributions are less likely to be believed. Moreover, empirical studies that have compared the relative benefits of external and internal attributions for repairing trust have reached conflicting conclusions regarding the response that should be used. We asked 189 college students to respond to videotaped scenarios in which they were asked to play the role of a manager and make decisions about hiring an accountant who had misfiled a tax return with a prior employer. Each participant was presented with one of four scenarios, which differed with respect to the type of violation (competence vs. integrity) and type of response (apology-internal vs. apology-external). The results revealed a significant interaction whereby trust was repaired more successfully when mistrusted parties apologized with an internal, rather than external, attribution when the trust violation concerned matters of competence, but apologized with an external, rather than internal, attribution when the trust violation concerned matters of integrity. These findings suggest that being guilty of an integrity-based violation can be so detrimental for trust that any mitigating response, even one that perceivers are likely to question, may prove worthwhile.     

The impact of traditionality/modernity on identification‐ and calculus‐based trust

We conducted three studies to explore how trust is perceived, displayed or changed by participants in China, which as a country has undergone substantial cultural and historical transition. Traditionality showed a significant positive correlation with identification‐based trust (IBT) and modernity was significantly associated with calculus‐based trust (CBT; Study 1). Compared to those primed with modern Chinese culture stimuli, participants primed with traditional icons exhibited a higher level of IBT and a lower level of CBT (Study 2). The study further demonstrated more trust behaviour based on identification with traditional culture priming and more trust behaviour based on calculus when primed with modern culture (Study 3). In sum, the present findings suggest that, along with substantial social changes and economic development, people exhibit their trust differently depending on cultural context, shedding light on the trust crisis in contemporary China.     

The effectiveness of sources of support in career decision-making: A two-year follow-up

Making career decisions is often difficult and challenging, and one way to advance in the process is to seek help. The present research focused on the various sources of support young adults tend to look for when making their career decision and the factors that affect their actual use of these sources. Study 1 elicited the self-reported help-seeking behavior and the Career Decision-Making Profile (CDMP) from 1071 young adults (ages 18–35) who had already chosen their major(s) at a university. The young adults used sources that were easily accessible, even when they were perceived as being less effective. Additionally, those with less career decision-making adaptability, as derived from the CDMP, tended to seek help more often. Study 2, a two-year follow-up of 296 young adults who participated in Study 1, revealed that getting help reduced the likelihood of changing one’s major.     

The associations of cultural worldviews,political orientation,and trust with COVID-19 risk beliefs in the U.S.

Given that risk beliefs predict engagement in behaviors to prevent disease, it is important to understand the factors associated with risk beliefs. In the present paper, we conducted path analyses to investigate the associations of belief systems (political orientation and cultural worldviews of individualism and hierarchy) with COVID-19 risk beliefs (i.e., perceived likelihood, perceived severity, and worry about disease; Studies 1 and 2), and the indirect effect through trust in information sources in these relationships (Study 1). Two online panels of U.S. adults were surveyed at three timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic (Study 1: baseline n = 1,667, 1-year follow-up n = 551; Study 2: n = 404). Results of path analyses indicated that, across studies and timepoints, when controlling for political orientation, trust, and demographic factors, greater individualism had consistent significant direct effects on lower perceived severity and worry about COVID-19, whereas greater hierarchy had consistent significant direct effects on lower perceived severity. However, after accounting for cultural worldviews of individualism and hierarchy (and trust and demographic factors), none of the associations among political orientation and any of the three COVID-19 risk beliefs were significant. The test of indirect effects indicated that individualism and hierarchy were indirectly associated with lower perceived severity of and worry about COVID-19 through less trust. The findings suggest that cultural worldviews of individualism and hierarchy play a role in shaping people's risk beliefs.     

The White standard: racial bias in leader categorization

In 4 experiments, the authors investigated whether race is perceived to be part of the business leader prototype and, if so, whether it could explain differences in evaluations of White and non-White leaders. The first 2 studies revealed that "being White" is perceived to be an attribute of the business leader prototype, where participants assumed that business leaders more than nonleaders were White, and this inference occurred regardless of base rates about the organization's racial composition (Study 1), the racial composition of organizational roles, the business industry, and the types of racial minority groups in the organization (Study 2). The final 2 studies revealed that a leader categorization explanation could best account for differences in White and non-White leader evaluations, where White targets were evaluated as more effective leaders (Study 3) and as having more leadership potential (Study 4), but only when the leader had recently been given credit for organizational success, consistent with the prediction that leader prototypes are more likely to be used when they confirm and reinforce individualized information about a leader's performance. The results demonstrate a connection between leader race and leadership categorization.     

How to cope with "noise" in social dilemmas: the benefits of communication

Interactions in social life may be seriously affected by negative noise, whereby actual or perceived behavior is less cooperative than was intended (e.g., arriving late due to an unforeseen traffic jam). The present research examines whether negative noise exerts detrimental effects on impressions and cooperation and whether such effects could be reduced by communication. Consistent with hypotheses, Study 1 revealed that negative noise exerts detrimental effects on both impressions of partners' benign intent and cooperation and that these detrimental effects could be effectively reduced by communication about noise. Study 2 replicated both findings but only for individuals with low trust. Mediation analysis revealed that impressions of benign intent and prosocial interaction goals underlie the positive effects of communication on cooperation.