The purpose of the current study was to determine if the relationship between interhemispheric interaction and cognitive flexibility extends to explanations of forgiveness and apology acceptance. A growing body of research indicates that consistency of handedness may be reflective of an individual’s degree of interhemispheric interaction and access to processes of the right hemisphere. As such, individual differences in processing that require interhemispheric interaction, such as belief updating, are associated with consistency of handedness. Participants completed the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI) and read descriptions of interpersonal transgressions, then rated their willingness to forgive before and after an apology was offered. There was a main effect such that the presence of apology increased forgiveness. However, inconsistent handedness was associated with greater forgiveness prior to apology compared to consistent handedness. A second study was conducted to determine if the individual differences in forgiveness were mediated by different dimensions of empathy (personal distress, perspective taking, empathic concern and fantasy). Participants completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, the Forgiveness Scale and the EHI. Results revealed those with inconsistent handedness who scored lower on personal distress reported decreased negative thoughts about transgressors compared to those with consistent handedness.

本研究的目的是确定半球间互动与认知灵活性之间的关系是否扩展到对宽恕和道歉接受的解释。越来越多的研究表明，惯性的一致性可能反映了个人半球之间的相互作用程度以及进入右半球过程的程度。这样，需要半球交互作用的处理过程中的个体差异（例如信念更新）与惯性一致。参加者完成了《爱丁堡行动习惯量表》（EHI），并阅读了有关人际关系过失的描述，然后对他们表示歉意之前和之后的原谅意愿进行了评级。造成道歉的主要作用是增加宽恕。然而，与一致的惯用手相比，不一致的惯用手与道歉前更大的宽恕相关。进行了第二项研究，以确定个人的宽恕差异是否由同情的不同维度（个人痛苦，观点接受，同情关注和幻想）所介导。参加者完成了人际交往指数，宽恕量表和EHI。结果显示，那些惯常使用惯用语的人，与那些惯常使用惯用语的人相比，在个人困扰方面得分较低的人报告对犯罪者的消极想法有所减少。进行了第二项研究，以确定个人的宽恕差异是否由同情的不同维度（个人痛苦，观点接受，同情关注和幻想）所介导。参加者完成了人际交往指数，宽恕量表和EHI。结果显示，那些惯常使用惯用语的人，与那些惯常使用惯用语的人相比，在个人困扰方面得分较低的人报告对犯罪者的消极想法有所减少。进行了第二项研究，以确定个人的宽恕差异是否由同情的不同维度（个人痛苦，观点接受，同情关注和幻想）所介导。参加者完成了人际交往指数，宽恕量表和EHI。结果显示，那些惯常使用惯用语的人，与那些惯常使用惯用语的人相比，在个人困扰方面得分较低的人报告对犯罪者的消极想法有所减少。