Abstract
Intergroup forgiveness may be granted by members of a victimized group to members of a transgressing group, even if the transgression took place a very long time ago, and all actors and witnesses of atrocities in question are already dead. This makes such secondhand forgiveness different from interpersonal forgiveness, but still some elements are similar, including beneficial effects of forgiveness or the role of sincere and satisfactory apology and repent of the transgressors. However, people may differ in their willingness to grant such forgiveness.
The article focuses on the role of social identifications of victim-group members and presents studies in this area. It also describes the mixed results on the role of ingroup identification, e.g. national, and shows possible explanations. The authors argue that it may be due to a complex character of national identification, consisting of a general sense of belonging (shared with supranational identifications, like European or human) fostering forgiveness, and a more specific sense of distinctiveness, hindering it, especially while connected to collective narcissism. Supranational identifications on the other hand have clearly positive role in intergroup forgiveness, both when treated as stable characteristics as well as when evoked experimentally. Authors show that the lowest level of identification including both victims and perpetrators is a sufficient factor fostering forgiveness.
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