To Know all is to Forgive all: The Effect of Foreign Experiences on Forgiveness

Abstract

By going abroad, individuals get the opportunity to explore a new country and to immerse themselves in a new culture. Despite being personally and professionally rewarding, little is known about interpersonal attitudes and behavior change that accompany living abroad experiences. The current research examines whether foreign experiences influence forgiveness. Drawing on the Structure–Appraisal Model of Multicultural Experiences and literature examining the positive effect of foreign experiences on self-control related to the suppression of impulsive retaliation, we propose that international experiences lead to a greater tendency to forgive. As predicted, we found that foreign experiences correlated positively with forgiving motivations toward transgressors across different measures of forgiveness and diverse samples (Studies 1–2). Study three compared forgiveness of individuals who had lived abroad with forgiveness of individuals who had plans to live abroad but had not done so yet. We found consistent support for the hypothesis that living abroad has an impact on forgiveness. By employing an experimental design, Study four established the causal effect of international experiences on forgiveness. Taken together, these findings suggest that when individuals experience foreign cultures, they learn to understand interpersonal conflicts from different perspectives and show greater leniency and forgiveness toward transgressions.