The effect of characteristic, source and targets of incivility on forgiveness behavior: The intermediate role of emotions and cognitions

Knowing how forgiveness, which is one of the important mechanisms in maintaining social relations, occurs in the face of an impolite behavior is very important for all social processes, especially social relations. Although the studies on forgiveness of others are limited in the literature, there is a lack of information on which mediator and regulatory mechanisms forgiveness works in Turkish culture. In the study, which was carried out in three studies, the effect of the characteristic, target and source of incivility on forgiveness and the possible mediator roles of cognitions (intention - perception of error) and emotions in this effect were examined. This research was designed in an online format, and incivility behavior was manipulated with hypothetical scenarios, and the tendency to forgive was measured with a single question. In Study 1, which features of incivility affect forgiveness were examined with the variables of intent and apology. As a result of the study, the main effects of intent and apology were found to be significant, and the mediating roles of cognitions and the regulatory roles of moral distancing were also evident. In Study 2, the target of incivility (family, acquaintance from the neighborhood) was included next to the intention variable. As a result, the main effect of intention and target of behavior variables was significant. In addition to cognitions, emotions were also been found to have a mediating role. In Study 3, where the source of incivility was included next to the intention variable, the main effects of the predictor variables were found to be significant. Consistent with other studies, cognitions and emotions mediated the relationship between intention and forgiveness, and moral distancing had a moderating role. This research revealed how the relationship between forgiveness and incivility is shaped by emotions and cognitions. In this direction, the creation of the "Incivil Behavior - Cognitive Emotional Model of Forgiveness" is a unique contribution of the research to the literature. In addition, the research is one of the few studies in which the hypothetical scenario is used as a manipulation method in measuring forgiveness. Finally, these findings may have some practical implications for future work.