Abstract
Self-forgiveness has been proposed as a method for moving on from transgressions committed against another person. Although definitions of self-forgiveness have proliferated in the scientific literature, little has been done to understand how the general public understands self-forgiveness. To understand similarities between scientific and lay definitions of self-forgiveness, we examined responses from 347 college students to the question “How would you define or describe self-forgiveness?” We used content coding to identify 21 codes to capture participants’ definitions. We also examined these codes within broad themes of internal versus relational focus, and whether the emphasis was on increasing positive or decreasing negative thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviors. Most participants (92.4%) included an internal focus in their definitions, while only about half (49.4%) included a relational focus. We found a significant overlap between how professionals have defined self-forgiveness and how this sample described self-forgiveness. We also found three additional themes to the process of self-forgiveness–using religion to cope, finding peace, and not judging others for their mistakes—that are not typically found in professional definitions. Pseudo self-forgiveness constructs were also found in some participants’ definitions of self-forgiveness, exemplifying the importance for future applied work (e.g., counseling applications, outreach programming) to address these pseudo self-forgiveness conceptualizations that may be held by some individuals seeking services.
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Word, M., Cornish, M.A., Coleman, K. et al. How does the general public define self-forgiveness? Examination in a college student sample. Curr Psychol 42, 9769–9779 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02241-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02241-1