Prior research shows that trait forgiveness impacts interpersonal outcomes, but its impact on state forgiveness and broader work outcomes is less clear. This paper investigated whether trait forgiveness predicts state forgiveness and three work outcomes (job satisfaction, affective commitment, and leave intentions). In studying these relationships, three potential mediators were tested as part of a perceptual model of trait forgiveness. Two hundred and fifty participants described a situation in which they were offended by another person in the workplace. Findings generally supported the perceptual model of trait forgiveness expected in that trait forgiveness predicted state forgiveness and the work outcomes tested. Perceived expectancy violation and offender reconstrual but not perceived transgression severity served as consistent mediators for these relationships. These findings highlight that trait forgiveness shapes people’s reactions to victimization and that victim perceptions of the offense and offender at least partly explain why this occurs. These results inform our understanding trait forgiveness and the processes that contribute to its consequences.

Introduction

The study of trait forgiveness has received much attention in interpersonal transgression research. To date, much research shows that trait forgiveness relates to positive outcomes such as reduced revenge intentions (Koutsos, Wertheim, & Kornblum, 2008), social support (Lawler-Row & Piferi, 2006), and psychological well-being (Brown & Phillips, 2005; Maltby, Day, & Barber, 2004). In the workplace literature, trait forgiveness is theorized to help employees restore a working relationship damaged by a past transgression (Palanski, 2012). The present study tests whether the benefits of trait forgiveness extend beyond offender interpersonal motivations (revenge, forgiveness) and well-being to three novel outcomes in the organizational context: job satisfaction, affective commitment, and leave intentions. Further, why dispositional forgiveness shapes positive outcomes may be just as important to understand as whether it has positive effects. Although efforts to understand the effects of dispositional forgiveness have flourished, our understanding of the cognitive and affective processes that drive these effects is still in its nascency. As such, this article suggests that trait forgiveness changes how victims perceive and cognitively process an interpersonal offense. In doing so, the study examines how people’s perceptions of the offense and offender serve as explanatory mechanisms linking trait forgiveness with state forgiveness and work outcomes.