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Forgiving the Self and Physical and Mental Health Correlates: A Meta-analytic Review

Don E. Davis
Man Yee Ho
Brandon J. Griffin
Chris Bell
Joshua N. Hook
Daryl R. Van Tongeren
Cirleen DeBlaere
Everett L. Worthington, Jr.
Charles J. Westbrook
All your life you’re told forgiveness is for you. But we’re never told why it’s for you. It means you’re working on owning your life.
Shani Tran
Therapist and Founder, The Shani Project
Forgiveness is nothing less than the way we heal the world. We heal the world by healing each and every one of our hearts. The process is simple, but it is not easy.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Back to Resources

Forgiving the Self and Physical and Mental Health Correlates: A Meta-analytic Review

Don E. Davis
Man Yee Ho
Brandon J. Griffin
Chris Bell
Joshua N. Hook
Daryl R. Van Tongeren
Cirleen DeBlaere
Everett L. Worthington, Jr.
Charles J. Westbrook
NO. of participants
Date
2015
Type of Evidence
Type of Paper
Integrative/Synthetic Review
Empiricism
open access
Yes
No
sample size
23592

Self-forgiveness has been conceptualized as a coping strategy that may improve health and well-being. To better understand the functions of self-forgiveness, this meta-analysis examines the correlates of self-forgiveness associated with physical and mental health. For physical health, across 18 samples and 5,653 participants, the correlation was .32. For psychological well-being, across 65 samples and 17,939 participants, the correlation was .45. To augment this primary focus on physical and mental health correlates, we estimated the relationships between self-forgiveness and specific mental health constructs and relationship outcomes. Implications for future basic and applied research on self-forgiveness are discussed.

Research
Non-Region Specific
Mental Health Professionals
Supporting Research
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