Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Age Moderates the Mediational Role of Empathy in the Association Between Gender and Forgiveness

  • Published:
Current Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Researchers have suggested that empathy may serve to explain, at least in part, the relationship between gender and forgiveness. Some findings in the literature have supported this claim, while other studies have not. Accounting for the variable of age might help to explain these inconsistencies, as age has been found to influence the expression of empathy across gender. As such, in the present study we examined whether age might exert a conditional indirect effect on the relationship between gender and forgiveness as mediated by empathy. Participants were recruited from the community (N = 62) and on a college campus (N = 94). Within the community sample the average age was 74.8, while on the college campus the average age was 20.7. Participants were given a survey packet that included the Heartland Forgiveness Scale and the Empathy Quotient Scale, among other instruments. A moderated-mediational analysis showed that while gender was related to empathy and empathy was associated with forgiveness, empathy served as a significant mediator only for those younger than 62 years of age. This finding suggests that empathy serves as an important mediator in the relationship between gender and forgiveness for adults aged 61 and younger, because younger women are more likely to respond empathetically to a transgressor as compared to younger men. Older women also tend to be more forgiving than older men, but in the present study empathy was not as important of a factor in explaining this relationship for individuals 62 years and older. These findings help to address the inconsistencies in the literature with regard to the relationships among gender, age, empathy, and forgiveness.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allemand, M. (2008). Age differences in forgivingness: the role of future time perspective. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 1137–1147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antonucci, T., & Akiyama, H. (1987). Social networks in adult life and a preliminary examination of the convoy model. Journal of Gerontology, 42, 519–527.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bartal, I., Decety, J., & Mason, P. (2011). Empathy and pro-social behavior in rats. Science, 334, 1427–1430.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, J., Worthington, E., Parrott, L., O’Connor, L., & Wade, N. (2001). Dispositional forgiveness: development and construct validity of the transgression narrative test of forgiveness (TNTF). Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1277–1290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bono, G., McCullough, M., & Root, L. (2008). Forgiveness, feeling connected to others, and well-being: two longitudinal studies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(2), 182–195.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, C., Harris, J., & Porges, S. (2009). Neural and evolutionary perspectives on empathy. In J. Decety & W. Ickes (Eds.), The social neuroscience of empathy (pp. 169–182). Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Carstensen, L., & Fredrickson, B. (1998). Influence of HIV status and age on cognitive representations of others. Health Psychology, 17, 494–503.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Chakrabarti, B., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2006). Empathizing: neurocognitive developmental mechanisms and individual differences. Progress in Brain Research, 156, 403–417.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Christov-Moore, L., Simpson, E., Coudé, G., Grigaityte, K., Iacoboni, M., & Ferrari, P. (2014). Empathy: Gender effects in brain behavior. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.

  • Eagly, A. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, D. (1999). A cross-cultural persepective on countinuity and change in social relations in old age: introduction to a special issue. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 48, 257–261.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fincham, F., Paleari, F., & Regalia, C. (2002). Forgiveness in marriage: the role of relationship quality, attributions, and empathy. Personal Relationships, 9, 27–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurung, R., Taylor, S., & Seeman, T. (2003). Accounting for changes in social support among married older adults: insights from the MacArthur studies of successful again. Psychology and Aging, 18, 487–496.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A., & Matthes, J. (2009). Computational procedures for probing interactions in OLS and logistic regression: SPSS and SAS implementations. Behavior Research Methods, 41, 924–936.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huupponen, R., Huhtaniemi, I., & Lehtonen, A. (2009). Testosterone: clinical relevance in ageing men. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 19, 249–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ickes, W., Gesn, P., & Graham, T. (2000). Gender differences in empathic accuracy: differential ability or differential motivation? Personal Relationships, 7, 95–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, P., & Fay, L. (1950).  The Johnson-Neyman technique, its theory and application.  Psychometrika, 15, 349–367.

  • Knickmeyer, R., Baron-Cohen, S., Raggatt, P., Taylor, K., & Hackett, G. (2006). Fetal testosterone and empathy. Hormones and Behavior, 49(3), 282–292.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, E., Shaw, P., Baker, D., Baron-Cohen, S., & David, A. (2004). Measuring empathy: reliability and validity of the Empathy Quotient. Psychological Medicine, 34, 911–919.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Löckenhoff, C., & Carstensen, L. (2004). Socioemotional selectivity theory, aging, and health: the increasingly delicate balance between regulating emotions and making tough choices. Journal of Personality, 72, 1395–4124.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Macaskill, A., Maltby, J., & Day, L. (2002). Forgiveness of self and others and emotional empathy. The Journal of Social Psychology, 142, 663–665.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Malcolm, W., Warwar, S., & Greenberg, L. (2005). Facilitating forgiveness in individual therapy as an approach to resolving interpersonal injuries. In E. Worthington Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of forgiveness (pp. 379–392). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCullough, M., Worthington, E., & Rachal, K. (1997). Interpersonal forgiving in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 321–336.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, A., Worthington, E., & McDaniel, M. (2008). Gender and forgiveness: a meta-analytic review and research agenda. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 27, 843–876.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muncer, S., & Ling, J. (2006). Psychometric analysis of the Empathy Quotient scale (EQ). Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1111–1119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neff, L., & Karney, B. (2005). Gender differences in social support: a question of skill or responsiveness? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 79–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K., Rucker, D., & Hayes, A. (2007). Addressing moderated mediation hypotheses: theory, methods, and prescriptions. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 42, 185–227.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rye, M., Pargament, K., Ali, M., Beck, G., Dorff, E., Hallisey, C., et al. (2000). Religious perspectives on forgiveness. In M. McCullough, K. Paragament, & C. Thoresen (Eds.), Forgiveness: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 17–40). New York: Guildford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schieman, S., & Van Gundy, K. (2000). The personal and social links between age and self-reported empathy. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63, 152–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, L., Snyder, C., Hoffman, L., Michael, S., Billings, H., Rasmussen, L., et al. (2005). Dispositional forgiveness of self, others, and situations. Journal of Personality, 73, 313–359.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Toussaint, L., & Webb, J. (2005). Gender differences in the relationship between empathy and forgiveness. Journal of Social Psychology, 145, 673–685.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Toussaint, L., Williams, D., Musick, M., & Everson, S. (2001). Forgiveness and health: age differences in a U.S. probability sample. Journal of Adult Development, 8, 249–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Honk, J., Shutter, D., Bos, P., Druijt, A., Lentjes, E., & Baraon-Cohen, S. (2011). Testosterone administration impairs cognitive empathy in women depending on second-to-fourth digit ratio. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(8), 3448–3452.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Whited, M., Wheat, A., & Larkin, K. (2010). The influence of forgiveness and apology on cardiovascular reactivity and recovery in response to mental stress. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 33, 293–304.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Worthington, E. (2003). Forgiving and reconciling: Bridges to wholeness and hope. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Worthington, E. (2005). Handbook of forgiveness. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Worthington, E., & Wade, N. (1999). The social psychology of unforgiveness and forgiveness and implications for clinical practice. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 18, 385–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the staff and residents of Bishop Gadsden for their assistance with this project, as well as Dr. James Hittner for his editorial comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, 29424, USA

    Rhonda Swickert, Sarah Robertson & Davis Baird

Authors
  1. Rhonda Swickert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sarah Robertson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Davis Baird
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rhonda Swickert.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Swickert, R., Robertson, S. & Baird, D. Age Moderates the Mediational Role of Empathy in the Association Between Gender and Forgiveness. Curr Psychol 35, 354–360 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9300-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9300-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation