Cancelled or Renewed?

In an increasingly digital world, people’s past wrongdoings sometimes re-emerge publiclyonline, eliciting renewed moral condemnation. What factors do observers consider in judgmentsof redemption or condemnation? We expected greater redemption following evidence ofpersonal growth (vs no growth), and especially when growth was private (vs public). We alsoexpected Democrats (vs Republicans) to be less forgiving of past racism (Studies 1 & 2)regardless of growth. In three experiments (N = 3,607), observers were more forgiving toward atransgressor when they had demonstrated personal growth since the original incident (i.e.,attending classes on the issue, participating in nonprofits, donating money). This effect wasobserved when the transgressor had posted racist comments online in the past (Studies 1 & 2) orhad been arrested for drunk driving (Study 3). Democrats were overall less forgiving thanRepublicans. Unexpectedly, observers responded similarly to public and to private growth.