Outgroup friendship may predict forgiveness toward that outgroup

Evidence

We were also, more generally, interested in the issue of intergroup forgiveness in Northern Ireland (see Hewstone et al., 2004). Because intergroup bias is such a pervasive phenomenon, present at public and private, explicit and implicit levels (see Hewstone Rubin, & Willis, 2002), we should not be surprised if we find evidence that “we” are reluctant to forgive “them” (see Cairns, Tam, Hewstone, & Niens, 2005; Hewstone et al., 2004). In the context of an ongoing ethnic conflict, promoting intergroup forgiveness is a difficult issue to broach and not just to those who have suffered directly. But because friendships promote positive orientations and effectively challenge intolerance, we hypothesized that outgroup friends would be a significant predictor of forgiveness. To our knowledge, no prior research has investigated whether contact is related to outgroup forgiveness, a variable that may be correlated with outgroup attitudes, but is conceptually quite distinct (see Hewstone et al., 2004, 2005). — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 73

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s question about what mechanism could reverse glorification back toward attachment — contact leading to forgiveness is that candidate mechanism. — 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; Intergroup contact predicts forgiveness-related attitudes even in those who suffered sectarian conflict. — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 2; 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)
• QUESTION: Whether contact-driven forgiveness is asymmetric (harder to build than to lose) is left open here and worth chasing in the results.

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 #corroborates (0.80) — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 109
• Cross-group friendship shapes positive intergroup attitudes more than casual contact does. #expands (0.75) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 556