Abstract
In this chapter, we explore the role of self-forgiveness in hypersexual behavior. Hypersexual behavior, also known as sexual addiction, sexual compulsivity, and sexual impulsivity, involves sexual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are excessive, difficult to control, and cause distress and problems in a person’s life. It is theorized that individuals engage in hypersexual behavior in response to dysphoric mood states (e.g., depression, anxiety). Although hypersexual behavior alleviates the dysphoric mood states temporarily, the relief is time-limited, and is often accompanied by feelings of guilt and shame, prompting individuals to re-engage in the sexual behavior. Self-forgiveness may play a role in alleviating dysphoric mood states and maladaptive shame and guilt, providing hope for individuals dealing with hypersexual behavior. We present a model for how self-forgiveness can reduce shame, guilt, and hypersexual behavior, adduce evidence supporting the model, and present an agenda for future research.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Adams, K., & Robinson, D. (2001). Shame reduction, affect regulation and sexual boundary development: Essential building blocks of sexual addiction treatment. Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity, 8, 23–44.
Ahmed, E., Harris, N., Braithwaite, J., & Braithwaite, V., (2001). Shame management through reintegration. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Ahmed, E., & Braithwaite, V. (2006). Forgiveness, reconciliation, and shame: Three key variables in reducing school bullying. Journal of Social Issues, 62, 347–370.
Ahrold, T. K., & Meston, C. M. (2010). Ethnic differences in sexual attitudes of US college students: Gender, acculturation, and religiosity factors. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 190–202.
Barth, R. J., & Kinder, B. N. (1987). The mislabeling of sexual impulsivity. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 13, 15–23.
Cibich, M., Woodyatt, L., & Wenzel, M. (2016). Moving beyond ‘shame is bad’: How a functional emotion can become problematic. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 10(9), 471–483.
Clarkson, J., & Kopaczewski, S. (2013). Pornography addiction and the medicalization of free speech. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 37, 128–148.
Coleman, E. (1987). Sexual compulsivity: Definition, etiology, and treatment considerations. Journal of Chemical Dependency, 1, 189–204.
Davis, D. E., Ho, M. Y., Griffin, B. J., Bell, C., Hook, J. N., Van Tongeren, D. R., & Worthington, E. L., Jr. (2015). Forgiveness of self from a stress-and-coping perspective: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62, 329–335.
Dillon, R. S. (2001). Self-forgiveness and self-respect. Ethics, 112, 53–83.
Fisher, M. L., & Exline, J. J. (2010). Moving toward self-forgiveness: Removing barriers related to shame, guilt, and regret. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4, 548–558.
Giles, J. (2006). No such thing as excessive levels of sexual behavior. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35, 641–642.
Giugliano, J. R. (2009). Sexual addiction: Diagnostic problems. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 7, 283–294.
Goodman, A. (1998). Sexual addiction: An integrated approach. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Griffin, B. J., Moloney, J. M., Green, J. D., Worthington, E. L., Jr., Cork, B., Tangney, J. P., Van Tongeren, D. R., … Hook, J. N. (2016). Perpetrators’ reactions to perceived interpersonal wrongdoing: The associations of guilt and shame with forgiving, punishing, and excusing oneself. Self and Identity, 15(6), 650–661. doi:10.1080/15298868.2016.1187669
Grubbs, J. B., Exline, J. J., Pargament, K. I., Hook, J. N., & Carlisle, R. D. (2015). Transgression as addiction: Religiosity and moral disapproval as predictors of perceived addiction to pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44, 125–136.
Grubbs, J. B., Exline, J. J., Pargament, K. I., Volk, F., & Lindberg, M. J. (2016). Internet pornography use, perceived addiction, and religious/spiritual struggles. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45, 1–13.
Grubbs, J. B., & Hook, J. N. (2016). Religion, spirituality, and sexual addiction: A critical evaluation of converging fields. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 23(2–3), 155–166. doi:10.1080/10720162.2016.1150925
Grubbs, J. B., Hook, J. N., Griffin, B. J., & Davis, D. E. (2015). Evaluating outcome research for hypersexual behavior. Current Addiction Reports, 2, 207–213.
Grubbs, J. B., Sessoms, J., Wheeler, D. M., & Volk, F. (2010). The Cyber-Pornography Use Inventory: The development of a new assessment instrument. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 17, 106–126.
Grubbs, J. B., Stauner, N., Exline, J. J., Pargament, K. I., & Lindberg, M. J. (2015). Perceived addiction to Internet pornography and psychological distress: Examining relationships concurrently and over time. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 29, 1056.
Hall, J. H., & Fincham, F. D. (2005). Self-forgiveness: The stepchild of forgiveness research. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24, 621–637.
Halpern, A. L. (2011). The proposed diagnosis of hypersexual disorder for inclusion in DSM-5: Unnecessary and harmful [Letter to the Editor]. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 487–488.
Hirsch, J. K., Webb, J. R., & Jeglic, E. L. (2012). Forgiveness as a moderator of the association between anger expression and suicidal behavior. Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 15, 279–300.
Holmgren, M. R. (1998). Self-forgiveness and responsible moral agency. The Journal of Value Inquiry, 32, 75–91.
Hook, J. N., Farrell, J. E., Davis, D. E., Van Tongeren, D. R., Griffin, B. J., Grubbs, J., … Bedics, J. D. (2015). Self-forgiveness and hypersexual behavior. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 22, 59–70.
Hook, J. N., Farrell, J. E., Ramos, M. J., Davis, D. E., Karaga, S., Van Tongeren, D. R., & Grubbs, J. (2015). Religiousness and congruence between sexual values and behavior. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 34, 179–188.
Kafka, M. P. (1997). Hypersexual desire in males: An operational definition and clinical implications for males with paraphilias and paraphilia-related disorders. Archives of sexual behavior, 26(5), 505–526.
Kafka, M. P. (2010). Hypersexual disorder: A proposed diagnosis for DSM-V. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 377–400.
Kafka, M. P. (2014). What happened to hypersexual disorder? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43, 1259–1261.
Kalman, T. P. (2008) Clinical encounters with Internet pornography. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, 36 (4), 593–618.
Kaplan, M. S., & R. B. (2010). Diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of hypersexuality. Journal of Sex Research, 47, 181–198.
Ley, D., Prause, N., & Finn, P. (2014). The emperor has no clothes: A review of the ‘pornography addiction’ model. Current Sexual Health Reports, 6(2), 94–105.
Lyons, G. C. B., Deane, F. P., Caputi, P., & Kelly, P. J. (2011). Spirituality and the treatment of substance use disorders: An exploration of forgiveness, resentment and purpose in life. Addiction Research and Theory, 19, 459–469.
MacInnis, C. C., & Hodson, G. (2016). Surfing for sexual sin: Relations between religiousness and viewing sexual content online. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 23, 196–210.
McBride, K. R., Reece, M., & Sanders, S. A. (2007). Predicting negative outcomes of sexuality using the Compulsive Sexual Behavior Inventory. International Journal of Sexual Health, 19, 51–62.
Mitchell, K. J., Becker-Blease, K. A., & Finkelhor, D. (2005). Inventory of problematic internet experiences encountered in clinical practice. Professional Psychology: Research & Practice, 36(5), 498–509.
Moser, C. (2011). Hypersexual disorder: Just more muddled thinking [Letter to the Editor]. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 227–229.
Parker, J., & Guest, D. (2002). The integration of psychotherapy and 12-step programs in sexual addiction treatment. In P. J. Carnes & K. M. Adams (Eds.), Clinical management of sex addiction (pp. 115–124). New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge.
Reid, R. C. (2013). Personal perspectives on hypersexual disorder. Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity, 20, 4–18.
Reid, R. C., Bramen, J. E., Anderson, A., & Cohen, M. S. (2014). Mindfulness, emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, and stress proneness among hypersexual patients. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 70, 313–321.
Reid, R. C., Carpenter, B. N., Hook, J. N., Garos, S., Manning, J. C., Gilliland, R., … Fong, T. (2012). Report of findings in a DSM-5 field trial for hypersexual disorder. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 9, 2868–2877.
Reid, R. C., Carpenter, B. N., & Lloyd, T. Q. (2009). Assessing psychological symptom patterns of patients seeking help for hypersexual behavior. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 24, 47–63.
Reid, R. C., Garos, S., & Fong, T. (2012). Psychometric development of the Hypersexual Behavior Consequences Scale. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 1, 115–122.
Reid, R. C., Harper, J. M., & Anderson, E. H. (2009). Coping strategies used by hypersexual patients to defend against the painful effects of shame. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 16, 125–138.
Reid, R. C., & Kafka, M. P. (2014). Controversies about hypersexual disorder and the DSM-5. Current Sexual Health Reports, 6, 259–264.
Rosenberg, K. P., O’Connor, S., & Carnes, P. (2014). Sex addiction: An overview. In K. P. Rosenberg & L. Curtiss Feder (Eds.), Behavioral addictions: Criteria, evidence, and treatment (pp. 215–236). San Diego, CA: Elsevier/Academic Press.
Scherer, M., Worthington, E. L., Jr., Hook, J. N., & Campana, K. L. (2011). Forgiveness and the bottle: Promoting self-forgiveness in individuals who abuse alcohol. Journal of Addictive Diseases, 30, 382–395.
Schultz, K., Hook, J. N., Davis, D. E., Penberthy, J. K., & Reid, R. C. (2014). Non-paraphilic hypersexual behavior and depressive symptoms: A meta-analytic review of the literature. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 40, 477–487.
Squires, E. C., Sztainert, T., Gillen, N. R., Caouette, J., & Wohl, M. J. A. (2012). The problem with self-forgiveness: Forgiving the self deters readiness to change among gamblers. Journal of Gambling Studies, 28, 337–350.
Van Tongeren, D. R., Newbound, H., & Johnson, E. (2016). The interactive effects of religiosity and priming religion following recall of a values violation. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 23, 211–224.
Webb, J. R., Robinson, E. A. R., & Brower, K. J. (2009). Forgiveness and mental health among people entering outpatient treatment with alcohol problems. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 27, 368–388.
Wells, M., & Mitchell, K. J. (2007). Youth sexual exploitation on the internet: DSM-IV diagnoses and gender differences in co-occurring mental health issues. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 24(3), 235–260.
Woodyatt, L., & Wenzel, M. (2013a). The psychological immune response in the face of transgressions: Pseudo self-forgiveness and threat to belonging. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49, 951–958.
Woodyatt, L., & Wenzel, M. (2013b). Self-forgiveness and restoration of an offender following an interpersonal transgression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 32, 225–259.
Wenzel, M., Woodyatt, L., & Hedrick, K. (2012). No genuine self-forgiveness without accepting responsibility: Value reaffirmation as a key to maintaining positive self-regard. European Journal of Social Psychology, 42(5), 617–627.
Wohl, M. J. A., & Thompson, A. (2011). A dark side to self-forgiveness: Forgiving the self and its association with chronic unhealthy behaviour. British Journal of Social Psychology, 50, 354–364.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mosher, D.K., Hook, J.N., Grubbs, J.B. (2017). Self-Forgiveness and Hypersexual Behavior. In: Woodyatt, L., Worthington, Jr., E., Wenzel, M., Griffin, B. (eds) Handbook of the Psychology of Self-Forgiveness. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60573-9_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60573-9_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60572-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60573-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)