Acceso usuarios
Ana Cristina Menezes Fonseca
The present study was conducted among incarcerated people who had committed property offenses using more or less violent means. Using a simulation technique derived from Information Integration Theory, it examined the relationship between lasting resentment, willingness to forgive and willingness to avenge on the one hand, and level of violence (severity of the harm done) on the other hand. In the simulation, two adults work in the same company. One worker asks for a promotion, and the other worker tries to block his advancement by circulating rumors. The variables considered in the simulation are the offender’s reaction and the type of response. The reaction factor has five levels: the offender (a) denies implication and joke about the victim’s misfortune, (b) recognizes that he circulated rumors but try to self-justify, (c) recognizes that he circulated rumors and apologizes, (d) recognizes, apologizes, and try to repair his fault by informing the head of the company, and (e) recognizes, apologizes, and try to repair his fault by informing the head of the company who severely punishes him. The response factor had four levels. Participants were requested to express a level of (a) resentment/anger, (b) willingness to forgive, (c) willingness to avenge in circumstances where revenge would be riskless for them, and (d) willingness to avenge in circumstances where revenge would be risky for them. As expected, more violent offenders did not differ much from other offenders regarding the level of immediate resentment they experience just after having been harmed but they differed from them in the management of this emotion. Among them, resentment would be more directly converted into willingness to avenge, irrespective of the associated risk that is incurred.
