Hannon, Peggy; Finkel, Eli J.; Kumashiro, Madoka and Rusbult, Caryl. 2012. The soothing effects of forgiveness on victims’ and perpetrators’ blood pressure. Personal Relationships, 19, pp. 279-289. ISSN 1350-4126 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

A laboratory experiment tested whether conciliatory behavior predicts lower blood pressure following spouses’
discussion of a recent marital transgression. Sixty-eight married couples discussed unresolved transgressions—with
random assignment determining whether the husband or the wife was in the victim role—and then rated victim and
perpetrator conciliatory behavior (with the former akin to forgiveness and the latter akin to amends) while watching
a videotape of their just-completed discussion. Participants’ blood pressure was measured 40 min later.
Actor–partner interdependence modeling analyses revealed that victim conciliatory behavior during the discussion
predicted not only lower victim blood pressure but also lower perpetrator blood pressure after the discussion.
Perpetrator conciliatory behavior during the discussion was not associated with victim or perpetrator blood pressure.

Item Type:	Article
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Psychology
Dates:	Date Event 2012 Published
Item ID:	8425
Date Deposited:	14 Jun 2013 07:11
Last Modified:	04 Jul 2017 10:01
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/8425

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