Self-forgiveness: The stepchild of forgiveness research

Although research on interpersonal forgiveness is burgeoning, there is little conceptual or empirical scholarship on self-forgiveness. To stimulate research on this topic, a conceptual analysis of self-forgiveness is offered in which self-forgiveness is defined and distinguished from interpersonal forgiveness and pseudo self-forgiveness. The conditions under which self-forgiveness is appropriate also are identified. A theoretical model describing the processes involved in self-forgiveness following the perpetration of an interpersonal transgression is outlined and the proposed emotional, social-cognitive, and offense-related determinants of self-forgiveness are described. The limitations of the model and its implications for future research are explored.