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Exploring New Directions in Self-Forgiveness Research: Integrating Self and Other Perspectives on Moral Repair

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Abstract

Self-forgiveness is not only shaped by processes exclusively within the self, nor are its consequences limited to the self. The Handbook of the Psychology of Self-Forgiveness (Woodyatt et al. 2017c) offers a timely collection of the growing and diverse scholarship on self-forgiveness, as well as a valuable resource for researchers. More importantly, however, it also provides a launching point for further theoretical and empirical innovations. In particular, we highlight the need to further investigate the role of others in the search for self-forgiveness and ultimately, moral redemption for the self. We reflect on the evolution and conceptualization, antecedents and consequences, and application of self-forgiveness. We then suggest new avenues for research that integrate self and other perspectives to understand an individual’s journey through self-forgiveness within a broader social context. We propose that we can conceptualize self-forgiveness and forgiveness as two complementary sides of the same process toward moral repair.

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  1. The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia

    Mylyn C. Dat & Tyler G. Okimoto

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  1. Mylyn C. Dat
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  2. Tyler G. Okimoto
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Correspondence to Tyler G. Okimoto.

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Dat, M.C., Okimoto, T.G. Exploring New Directions in Self-Forgiveness Research: Integrating Self and Other Perspectives on Moral Repair. Soc Just Res 31, 206–217 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-018-0308-7

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