Brain structures associated with individual differences in decisional and emotional forgiveness

In responding to interpersonal conflicts, forgiveness goes a long way. Past brain imaging studies have examined the activation patterns of forgiving responses. However, the individual differences in brain structures associated with decisional forgiveness and emotional forgiveness are not well understood. In this voxel-based morphometry study, participants (85 men, 210 women) completed the Decisional Forgiveness Scale (DFS) and the Emotional Forgiveness Scale (EFS) and underwent an anatomical magnetic resonance imaging scan. Higher DFS scores were associated with larger GM volumes in a cluster that included regions in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Higher EFS scores were associated with larger GM volumes in a cluster that included regions in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the superior frontal gyrus (SFG), which were also associated with smaller GM volumes in a cluster that included regions in the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL). The associations between the identified regions and DFS scores and EFS scores were supported by the cross-validation test. In addition, the GMV of OFC, mPFC and SFG partially mediated the relationship between DFS and EFS. These results provide direct neuroanatomical evidence for an association between decisional and emotional forgiveness and brain regions which are critical for cognitive control, theory of mind and moral judgment.