The Role of Hopeful Apology in the Forgiveness Process Model: Forgiveness and Relational Continuance

Asynchronous Event  

Hope, as disposition, has received exhaustive attention in the interpersonal communication and conflict resolution literature. However, hope is not only something that is felt, but may also take a linguist form. Thus, communicative messages with elements of hope coupled with an apology, or hopeful apologies, may be effective during conflict resolution post hurt-evoking interactions. Guided by the forgiveness process model (Gordon & Baucom, 1998), the present study investigated how hopeful apologies may impact injured partners' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral response post hurt-evoking interactions. Results from the study (N = 256) revealed that hopeful apologies ultimately produced more outcomes of forgiveness in comparison to standalone apologies. Additionally, hopeful apologies were also more effective at reducing the amount of intense affect and generating increased empathy toward transgressors relative to apologies without hope.