https://icds.uoregon.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Litz-et-al-2009-Moral-Injury-and-Moral-Repair-in-War-Veterans.pdf

Moral injury and moral repair in war veterans: A preliminary model and intervention strategy

Recent self-forgiveness research raises thorny issues: Are people who claim to forgive themselves merely excusing their offenses? Might it be adaptive for people to feel distress after they hurt others? This study asked 138 undergraduates to reflect on times when they offended others. Feelings of self-condemnation were associated with maladjustment, as shown in prior studies. However, participants reported more prosocial responses (repentance and a sense of being humbled) if they accepted responsibility, experienced remorse, and found that reducing negative feelings required effort. Egotism was associated with reluctance to accept responsibility, whereas a more shame-prone, neurotic pattern was associated with self-condemnation. To avoid confounding self-forgiveness with excusing, future studies should include responsibility ratings and should also distinguish between remorse and self-condemnation.

Self-forgiveness versus excusing: The roles of remorse, effort, and acceptance of responsibility

We evaluated whether a self-forgiving attitude and spirituality were related to psychological adjustment among 81 women being treated for breast cancer at a medical oncology clinic in a county general hospital Both a self-forgiving attitude and spirituality were unique predictors of less mood disturbance and better quality of life (p's < 0001) These results are consistent with previous research that has demonstrated a positive relationship between spirituality and well-being The findings also suggest that self-forgiveness should be explored experimentally to determine whether it can protect against the psychological effects of breast cancer-related stress Interventions targeting these characteristics could improve the quality of life and alleviate stress, especially in women with breast cancer in public sector settings

https://catherinerbarberphd.weebly.com/uploads/8/8/1/1/8811695/romero_etal_2006.pdf

Self-forgiveness, spirituality, and psychological adjustment in women with breast cancer

Forgiveness and Personality Traits

Forgiveness, personality and gratitude.

In a sample composed of 147 undergraduates (age range 18 to 55 years; M = 22), we conducted an examination of the convergent and discriminant validity of self- and other-forgiveness in the Five-factor model of personality (FFM). Using multiple measures of each construct, principal components analysis (PCA) supported a 2-component model of forgiveness. Findings for the PCA and external correlates with the FFM provided evidence for a largely orthogonal relationship between self- and other-forgiveness. Specifically, self-forgiveness was negatively related to Neuroticism and unrelated to Agreeableness, whereas other-forgiveness was unrelated to Neuroticism and positively related to Agreeableness. Overlap between the constructs was found in which both self- and other-forgiveness were negatively related to the hostility facet of Neuroticism and the order facet from Conscientiousness and positively related to the warmth and positive emotions facet scales from the Extraversion domain of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Overall, these findings suggest that self- and other-forgiveness, although seemingly similar, carry very different motivational underpinnings.

Wrobel Ta

Papers

A personological examination of self- and other-forgiveness in the five factor model.