Daveeney's Theory Of First-Party Forgiveness
used only on first-party forgiveness: Fincham et al.
(2002) found that kinder attributions are associated with greater forgiveness, and Finkel et al. (2002) found that greater relationship commitment is associated with greater forgiveness. We reason that greater commitment to a relationship fosters a variety of pro-relationship cognition, including more benign attributions and altered perceptions of the severity of an offense (examined in the present work) and greater empathy (as examined in others’ work; Fincham et al., 2002;
Konstam, Chernoff, & Deveney, 2001). Pro-relationship cognition, in turn, should lead to increased forgiveness.
We also note that first parties (who reported greater commitment to the perpetrator) reported greater negative
(2002) found that kinder attributions are associated with greater forgiveness, and Finkel et al. (2002) found that greater relationship commitment is associated with greater forgiveness. We reason that greater commitment to a relationship fosters a variety of pro-relationship cognition, including more benign attributions and altered perceptions of the severity of an offense (examined in the present work) and greater empathy (as examined in others’ work; Fincham et al., 2002;
Konstam, Chernoff, & Deveney, 2001). Pro-relationship cognition, in turn, should lead to increased forgiveness.
We also note that first parties (who reported greater commitment to the perpetrator) reported greater negative