(The) impact of being forgiven on original thinking

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of forgiveness on the forgiven person (transgressor)’s creativity. Our ‘being forgiven as restoration in creativity hypotheses’ were supported by two experimental studies. The findings showed that participants in the unforgiven condition showed less creativity than those in the forgiven and the baseline condition. Also, the participants who committed transgression but are forgiven showed not significantly different performance in creativity task with those in the baseline condition. Based on the dual-pathway to creativity model, our research showed that the effect of being (un)forgiven on creativity was mediated by cognitive persistence. Our research also ruled out possible mediators

cognitive flexibility, positive emotion, and negative emotion. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.