Forgiveness connotes a willingness to overlook a party's breach of an established fairness norm. In many cultural and religious traditionals, this benevolent behavior is considered virtuous. As Jeffrie Murphy notes, however, "if carried to extremes, [forgiveness] can lapse into servility, entailing a loss of self-respect."

In the context of the schema, forgiveness is a necessary step in rebuilding trust after a breach of established fairness norms. Thus, insofar as a cooperative relationship is beneficial, forgiveness may be an efficient behavior. Forgiveness, however, does not inevitably lead to reconciliation.

References

Jeffrie G. Murphy, "Forgiveness and Mercy," in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1998), available at http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/K024.