Last I checked, nobody's perfect. And social life often comes with some levels of conflict. A co-worker might hold it against you that you got a promotion and they didn't—and their reaction to this situation might take the form of resentment and conflict. Your spouse might have gutted your checking account on expensive jewelry without even thinking of consulting you. And that could lead to problems. Your sister may have failed to say thank you for helping her throw a surprise birthday party for her husband. Your best friend might insult your spouse in public after having a few too many eggnogs at a holiday party. You might have a family member who cursed you out for no apparent reason in front of your spouse and children. One of your friends may have backed into your car in your driveway upon leaving one night and ended up totally denying it (even though you saw it happen clearly on the Ring camera). And so forth.

An unfortunate facet of the human condition bears on the inherent imperfections that we all carry.

When people transgress against us, we often don't take it well (see Geher et al., 2019). We often see transgressions, especially those that are directed at us and that are relatively severe, as hard to forgive. One of the main issues in navigating the sometimes-treacherous waters of the human social world pertains to these questions: When is something forgivable? And when has........

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