Intergroup contact predicts forgiveness-related attitudes even in those who suffered sectarian conflict.

Evidence

Study 2 (N = 391 Catholics, 647 Protestants) explored predictors of intergroup forgiveness, and also showed that intergroup contact was positively related to outgroup attitudes, perspective-taking, and trust (even among those who had a worse experience of sectarian conflict). — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 2

Our research has also shown that inter-group contact is associated with greater forgiveness, even among respondents from a national sample who had personally been affected by inter-group violence (Voci et al, 2015), and that forgiveness is negatively related to mild psychiatric morbidity (Myers et al, 2009). — Miles Hewstone and Joanne Hughes, Reconciliation in Northern Ireland, 12

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Relevant to the ‘On Sacrifice’ article’s theme of victims moving past cycles of harm — here is empirical evidence that contact among the directly victimized can yield forgiveness rather than deepening antagonism, and forgiveness in turn predicts lower psychiatric morbidity.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 2; Miles Hewstone and Joanne Hughes, Reconciliation in Northern Ireland: the…, 12
• XREF: connects to: Cross-group friendship is the most effective intergroup contact form for reconciliation. — Miles Hewstone and Joanne Hughes, Reconciliation in Northern Ireland: the…, 5; Outgroup friendship may predict forgiveness toward that outgroup — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 73; Outgroup friendship contact correlates with forgiveness, trust, and perspective-taking across both religious groups — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 83 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Outgroup friendship contact correlates with forgiveness, trust, and perspective-taking across both religious groups #corroborates (0.90) — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 83
• Direct suffering within conflict suppresses forgiveness, but friendship contact still promotes it #expands (0.88) — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 109
• Cross-group prejudice correlation shows attitudes are not driven by intergroup contact #contradicts (0.85)
• Protracted conflicts resist intergroup attitude interventions #complicates (0.82)
• Outgroup friendship may predict forgiveness toward that outgroup #expands (0.80) — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 73
• Contact predicts forgiveness only for Catholics, while ingroup identification inhibits it only for Protestants #qualifies (0.80) — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 84