The impact of post-apology behavioral consistency on victim's forgiveness intention: A study of trust violation among coworkers

Abstract

This study extended past research and investigated how post-apology behavioral consistency influences subsequent forgiveness in an organizational setting. Using a sample of 326 working adults, we confirmed that post-apology behavioral consistency is an important boundary condition of the effectiveness of apology in eliciting forgiveness. Despite having received an apology, the victim's intention to forgive would be low if the perpetrator displayed behaviors inconsistent with the apology made, but would be reinforced by the offending colleague's behaving in accordance with the apology. People who have initially forgiven their colleagues are less susceptible to influences by subsequent post-apology behavioral inconsistency, although trust continues to be harmed by repeat violations. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.