FORGIVENESS IN ADOLESCENTS, YOUNG, MIDDLE-AGED, AND OLDER ADULTS

The evolution of the propensity to forgive an offense was studied in a sample of 236 people from various age groups. The effect of a number of circumstances connected with the offense was considered: intent to harm, severity of consequences, cancellation of consequences, social p roximity to the offender, apologies from the offender, and the attitud e of others. The method was an application of information integration theory. A global increase in the propensity to forgive from adolescenc e to old age was observed. Several interactions between age and circum stances were found: (a) The effect of the cancellation factor was high er in young adolescents and in the very old than in the middle-aged, ( b) the attitude of others and the restoration of harmony factors were important only in adolescents. Finally, the structure of the Forgivene ss schema was shown to be an additive one, regardless of the age of th e participants.