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June 13, 2026Journal of Experimental Psychology Applied0 citations

The effects of counterfactual thinking on unilateral forgiveness: Can victims do it on their own?

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MBMauro BertolottiMNMasi NoorIDIwan Dinnick

Key Points

  • This research investigates how different types of counterfactual thinking influence victims' ability to forgive perpetrators independently.
  • Conducted three studies to analyze the impact of additive and subtractive counterfactuals on forgiveness.
  • Focused on both perpetrator and victim perspectives across various offenses.
  • Evaluated moderation effects of responsibility attribution and offense severity.
  • Study 2 found that victims using additive counterfactuals showed greater willingness to forgive (p<0.05).
  • Study 3 indicated that victim-focused counterfactuals had varying effects based on responsibility attribution (p<0.05).
  • No moderation was found for offense severity or temporal distance in studies 2 and 3.

Abstract

") counterfactuals. Study 2 found that additive (vs. subtractive) counterfactuals focused on the perpetrator were associated with greater (vs. lesser) willingness to take the perpetrator's perspective and to forgive. Study 3 provided further evidence supporting the effects of additive (vs. subtractive) counterfactuals when the counterfactuals were focused on the victim. No direct evidence of moderation by offense severity or temporal distance was found (Studies 2 and 3), while the effects of victim-focused counterfactuals were moderated by responsibility attribution to the perpetrator or the victim (Study 3). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

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Cite This Study

Bertolotti et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a2cf62dfaef96ed7f057f25https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000579
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