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This study aims to understand factors that explain the use of revenge and forgiveness by Hindu and Muslim group members in reaction to the rival group’s negative reciprocal behaviour based on norms of negative reciprocity.

Participants from Hindu (n = 175) and Muslim (n = 134) groups in India were presented with two norm-violating situations. Situation 1 involved an intergroup episode and Situation 2 involved an inter-community episode. Their own group members had engaged in the violation of the norms of the other group to which the rival group members had responded negatively. Participants anticipated the likelihood of their group members using revenge or forgiveness in response to the other group’s negative reaction. These reactions were predicted by religious, political and cultural identities, fraternalistic relative deprivation (FRD), relative power, anger and hate, and perception of the appropriateness of their reaction.

Social identities predicted intergroup revenge and forgiveness differently for the two groups in the two situations. The stronger religious identity of Muslims, not of Hindus, reduced the likelihood of their using revenge but increased it for forgiveness in both situations. Political identity associated positively with forgiveness in Situation 2 for both groups. Cultural identity predicted the likelihood of Muslims opting for forgiveness in both situations. FRD was not a significant predictor of revenge or forgiveness for Muslims. In the case of Hindus, it reduced the likelihood of their engaging in forgiveness in Situation 2. Relative power associated positively with the likelihood of Muslims, not Hindus, using revenge in both situations. Anger increased the possibility of Hindus reacting in revenge, as well as, forgiveness in the two situations. Anger did not predict revenge for Muslims but it related negatively with forgiveness in the two situations. Stronger hate was associated with revenge for Muslims. The choice of using revenge or forgiveness by own group members was positively predicted by the norms of negative reciprocity for both Hindus and Muslims.

The study used a convenience sample of young people which reduces the generalizability of the findings.

The findings of this study have implications for designing interventions for resolving intergroup conflicts in various social settings.

The paper adds to the norm violation theory of intergroup relations by focusing on counter-reactions and the understanding of the dynamics of intergroup conflicts.

Positive aging aims to promote the physical health and psychological well-being of older adults for them to age successfully. Under the domain of positive aging, this study aims to explore the mediating role of self-compassion between forgiveness and psychological well-being in older adults.

It was based on a quantitative research design, with a sample of 250 individuals within the age group of 60–75 years. Data was collected using Self-compassion Scale (2003), Heartland Forgiveness Scale (2005) and Psychological Well-being Scale. Analysis was performed using Pearson’s correlation, linear regression, followed by the generalised linear model of mediation.

The results revealed a significant (p ≤ 0.001), high and positive correlation between self-compassion and forgiveness (r = 0.821), forgiveness and psychological well-being (r = 0.852) and self-compassion and psychological well-being (r = 0.802). Linear regression suggested that self-compassion and forgiveness are significant (p ≤ 0.001) predictors of psychological well-being, causing a variance of 75.6%. Mediation revealed significant (p ≤ 0.001) direct, indirect and total effect between the variables, showing that self-compassion partially mediates the relationship between forgiveness and psychological well-being.

The findings provide valuable insights on how fostering self-compassion along with forgiveness can improve psychological well-being among the elderly, however, research on additional variables, drawing comparisons between gender, economic status and clinical populations can be further explored. Nevertheless, this study can be used to develop interventions and therapeutic techniques to enhance self-compassion and forgiveness to improve psychological well-being among older adults.

As per the best knowledge of the researcher, this work is original as it is a primary research and no data has been collected of a similar nature from the participants.

This study aims to validate the Bolton Forgiveness Scale (BFS) created by Amanze and Carson (2019) for the Indian population.

The data for the validation of the BFS was collected (Total N = 813) in two phases (Phase-I, N1 = 613 and Phase-II, N2 = 200) through online surveys. SPSS 26 and AMOS were used to establish the psychometric properties of the scale through internal consistency and confirmatory factor analysis.

The results indicated the validation of the BFS in the Indian context, with a high internal consistency (a = 0.847). Confirmatory factor analysis validated the factor structure and items, along with face validity.

This study offers comprehensive suggestions on the approaches to forgiveness, addresses biases, advocates for qualitative exploration and emphasizes rigour for the future research on forgiveness.

The present study validates the BFS for future use for the Indian population. The authors offer comprehensive suggestions on the approaches to forgiveness, address biases, advocate for qualitative exploration and emphasize rigour for future research on forgiveness.

The purpose of this article is to elicit understanding of how forgiveness, religion and spirituality, and relationships can better our lives. It draws from the life of Everett L. Worthington, Jr, a positive psychologist and Commonwealth Professor Emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has published almost 50 books and over 500 scholarly articles or chapters.

This is a case study, followed by a ten-question interview. The core methodology is positive autoethnography which is embraced by Worthington to reveal life lessons from things he has done.

Worthington reveals a life honoring the interwoven lives of people. He has studied forgiveness intensively and finds it to be an essential way of making our way in the world and in a world community that all too often hosts hurt.

An extensive literature has developed to understand what forgiveness is, how it comes about naturally and how the REACH Forgiveness method can help people who struggle to forgive themselves or others, and do it more quickly, thoroughly and frequently. Forgiving has psychological, social, spiritual and physical benefits to the forgiver.

This article is filled with practical information on how to forgive and how to pursue eudaemonia, which Worthington defines as virtue for oneself.

Forgiveness has widespread social implications. Good relationships are those that can help form, maintain, grow and repair when damaged close emotional bonds. Forgiveness helps repair, maintain and grow those bonds.

Worthington has been instrumental in the establishment and growth of the subfield of forgiveness studies and in the study of humility.

The rising occurrence of digitally driven public consumer complaints has made it necessary for enterprises to obtain consumer forgiveness. However, existing research has provided little understanding regarding how to obtain consumer forgiveness effectively. Thus, the present study examined how brand avatars can improve consumer forgiveness in the context of public apology.

This study tested the mechanism of a brand avatar on consumer forgiveness using three studies. Specifically, we explored the direct and mediating effect of empathy toward a brand (Study 1); we identified the moderating mediating effect of humorous responses (Study 2) and product type (Study 3). Data for these studies were collected on Credamo. We analyzed the data using SPSS (26.0) for the primary analysis and PROCESS (3.5) for the mediating and moderating mediating analysis.

The results indicate that brand avatars enhance consumer forgiveness. Moreover, empathy toward a brand plays a mediating role in the effect of brand avatars on consumer forgiveness. Additionally, when a humorous response is present, a brand avatar can enhance customer forgiveness through empathy toward that brand. Compared to utilitarian products, hedonic products can also increase the impact of a brand avatar on empathy toward the brand, thus enhancing consumers' forgiveness.

From the perspective of emotion, this study explored the impact of brand avatars on consumer forgiveness via empathy toward a brand. It augments the research on brand avatars and consumer forgiveness. The study also verified the moderating mediating effect of humor response and product type while expanding the brand avatar research boundary.

This study aims to contribute to the darker side of consumer–brand interactions by examining the relationship between consumer-related antecedents, particularly consumer personality traits, in triggering brand-hate emotions. Additionally, the link between brand hate and brand forgiveness was also taken into account, as well as the moderating impact of personality attributes. The impact of brand forgiveness on consumer coping behavior was investigated, particularly for brand switching (flight) and negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) (fight) on Indian e-commerce shopping websites/apps.

Using a structured questionnaire survey and a nonprobability purposive sampling approach, data were obtained from 438 online shoppers who had experienced hate directed at a particular shopping website or app. The hypotheses were tested statistically using partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling with SmartPLS 4 software.

First, the findings demonstrate that agreeableness, extraversion and neuroticism significantly affected brand hate. Second, the results indicate that personality traits, particularly extraversion and conscientiousness from the Big-Five model, play a substantial role in moderating the relationship between brand hate and brand forgiveness. Third, the study also reveals the significance of brand forgiveness in mitigating the adverse consequences of NWOM and brand switching in the context of e-commerce platforms.

Practical steps such as complaint-management processes and prompt resolutions through an appropriate means of active interaction and understanding the consumer’s personality when their concerns are heard and handled can help brand managers earn customers’ forgiveness and reduce brand hate toward e-commerce websites/apps.

Based on the authors’ understanding, this study is the initial one to incorporate brand hate, brand forgiveness and coping strategies into the model in a service context with the interaction effect of consumer personality traits.

This study aims to contribute novel insights into understanding and mitigating the harmful consequences of abusive supervision (AS) by examining the association between AS experiences, revenge, forgiveness, and the moderating role of emotional intelligence (EI). The key argument is that employees' EI can influence the AS experience through affective processes, countering supervisors' abusive behaviors.

A between-person scenario-based experiment was conducted with 366 participants divided into AS and control groups. The study explored the association between AS experience and revenge/forgiveness, mediated by core affect (valence and activation). EI abilities were measured as a moderator. Data analysis examined the relationships and interactions among AS, revenge/forgiveness, EI, and affective experiences.

The study reveals significant findings indicating that AS experiences were positively associated with revenge and negatively associated with forgiveness. The mediation analysis confirmed the role of core affect in these relationships. EI emerged as a moderator, shaping the association between AS experiences and revenge/forgiveness. Importantly, participants with higher EI exhibited lower revenge intentions, demonstrating the potential of EI to mitigate the adverse effects of AS. Unexpectedly, individuals with high EI also expressed fewer forgiveness intentions.

This study provides a comprehensive understanding of how employees can effectively counterbalance the impact of AS through higher levels of strategic EI. Examining core affect as a mediator offers novel insights into coping mechanisms in response to AS experiences and their consequences.

The study acknowledges several limitations, as the scenarios may only partially capture the complexities of real-life AS situations. The focus on a specific context and the sample characteristics limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research should explore diverse organizational contexts and employ longitudinal designs.

The findings have practical implications for organizations as enhancing employees' EI skills through training programs interventions and integrating EI into organizational culture and leadership conduct.