Forgive and forget? Honor-oriented individuals are less forgiving of transgressing peers

Individual differences research on masculine honor has heavily focused on men’s aggressive responses to insults by male strangers, but much less is known whether honor-oriented individuals (men and women) are less forgiving – express more avoidant and vengeful, but less benevolent motivations – towards peers following insults, and their underlying concerns in being less forgiving. Using 200 British participants (dignity group) in Study 1, and 146 British (dignity group) and 178 Turkish (honor group) participants in Study 2, we examined whether (1) masculine honor-oriented individuals are less forgiving of peers after insults, and (2) this association is indirectly explained by concern with avoiding loss of social respect or maintaining personal integrity. Results showed that masculine honor-oriented individuals were less forgiving of insulting peers, which was indirectly explained by concern with losing respect, but not keeping personal integrity. We also report that the presence of a third-party audience did not have an effect on the observed pattern of relationships. These findings expand our understanding of why, despite the many benefits of forgiveness, some individuals may be less willing to forgive people who have hurt them.