Forgiveness is often seen as subordinated to the cooperation of the offender, through the apology-forgiveness cycle. In this research project we test whether victims of interpersonal conflicts can independently promote their willingness to forgive by engaging in counterfactual thinking ("If ... then ...") about a past event, that is, thinking about how things would have been better if the offender or themselves had acted differently.
The project is carried out in collaboration with Keele University.