ABSTRACT
When one individual insults another, reveals confidential or embarrassing information, harms another or her valued property, oris unfaithful to a committed partner, the victim rightly feels that a moral transgression has occurred. Forgiveness is one response to this experience of a moral wrong (Murphy, 1988); other responses may be to seek justice or to seek revenge, either by oneself or through others. The immediate cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses of a betrayal experience are likely to be condemnatory, angry, and retaliatory. Even if expressed, the long-term effects may involve angry rumination, chronic negative feelings, and obsessive thoughts of revenge or of the harm done to oneself. Our concern is with the consequences of these long-terms effects and whether they are mitigated by the choice of a forgiving response toward the offender.
