An Equity Theory Analysis of the Impact of Forgiveness and Retribution on Transgressor Compliance

Forgiveness, when thought of as an unsolicited gift, may increase the perceived debt of the transgressor to the victim whereas retribution should reduce it. Male undergraduates participated in a study designed to test this equity interpretation of forgiveness and retribution. Participants were induced to break a piece of electronic equipment during an ostensible memory study; the reaction of the experimenter served as the experimental manipulation. Participants experienced one of forgiveness, retribution, both retribution and forgiveness, or neither, and were then asked to comply with a request from the experimenter as an indirect measure of perceived inequity. Consistent with an equity analysis, a planned contrast analysis indicated that forgiveness alone yielded the most compliance and retribution yielded the least compliance.