Abstract for "Forgiveness, moral identity, and perceived justice in crime victims and their supporters," by Berry, Worthington, Wade, Witvliet, & Kiefer (in press):

Warmth-based virtues (e.g., love, compassion, forgiveness) create social ecologies of emotional support and altruistic concern. Conscientiousness-based virtues (e.g., self-control, moderation, justice) create social ecologies of reciprocal exchange, fairness, and constrained competition. College students (N=29) who have been crime victims (or are friends or family members of victims) were assessed on their valuing of the two classes of virtues, their perception that justice had been (or would be) achieved, and their empathy for the criminal offender. Valuing warmth-based virtues, but not conscientiousness-based virtues, predicted forgiveness of the offender. This relationship held when controlling for empathy and perceived justice. Valuing both classes of virtues predicted lower revenge motivations. We discuss retributive justice and restorative justice in terms of the two classes of virtues.