Social species have developed adaptations to combat the fitness risks associated with exploitation. Revenge, as a countermeasure to exploitation, offers evident benefits; however, it might terminate the relationship between the victim and the transgressor. Forgiveness is an alternative strategy that may increase the likelihood of gaining benefits from relationships with transgressors in the future. 

Recently, it has been suggested that forgiveness is interpreted and conceptualized differently across cultures (e.g., Worthington, 2019). In Western cultures, forgiveness is perceived as a personal and internal process. People in individualistic and independent cultures tend to prioritize personal desires, needs, and rights, while people in East Asian cultures like China, Korea, and Japan focus on social harmony, and therefore forgiveness is perceived as an interpersonal process to mend the relationship between the forgiver and the wrong-doer (Enright, Gassin, & Wu, 1992; Karremans et al., 2011). To our knowledge, however, no research has investigated the development of forgiveness from a cross-cultural perspective, and thus, there is very little understanding of how the culture-specific aspects of forgiveness emerge in development.

The current study investigated cultural similarities and differences in the effects of relational values on forgiveness. A total of 88 Japanese and German 6- to 8-year-olds were presented with vignettes manipulating the factors of relationship closeness between transgressor and victim, and their decisional and emotional forgiveness were assessed. The experimental design was 2 (Culture: Japan and Germany) × 3 (Relationship: friend, classmate, and stranger), with Culture as a between-participant factor and Relationship as a within-participant factor. The results suggest that children from the two cultures were similar in emotional forgiveness but differed in decisional forgiveness. Regarding emotional forgiveness, both Japanese and German children experienced anger and resentment when they were exploited. However, in decisive forgiveness, Japanese children were more likely to express sadness instead of anger, and were more likely to forgive than Germans, especially when the relationship with the transgressor would continue in the future (ingroup or classmate). On the other hand, German children were more likely to express anger than Japanese children and adopt the strategy of not expressing anything when the relationship with the transgressor would continue. These results suggest that, in childhood, perceptions of the interpersonal functions of forgiveness may differ across cultures. Future research should investigate the effects of resentment by transgressors on forgiveness, and the process of cultural transition should be examined.